Miracles Do Exist
by JasonMorganfan87
Summary: It has been either years since Jake's death. Jason and Sam are now married with two childen. But what happens when Sam is asked for help by a boy bearing the same name as her husband's dead son? Is it a coincidence or did Jake somehow survive?
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own General Hospital or any of its characters.**

**Miracles Do Exist**

Sam McCall Morgan was sitting at her desk in the office she shared with Spinelli. She was finishing up some paperwork from her last undercover mission when she heard a knock at the door. "Come in."

The door was soon opened, revealing a young boy. He looked to be about twelve or thirteen and had blond hair and blue eyes. The boy's eyes actually reminded Sam a lot Jason's and her children's. "Can I help you?"

"I'm looking for some guy named Sam McCall," the boy said.

Sam laughed a little. "Uh, that's me. It's Samantha McCall. As you can see I'm not a guy."

"I didn't know girls could be PIs," he said.

Sam smirked. "Well, it is the twenty-first century. Haven't you heard? Girls can do anything guys can do."

The boy shrugged. "Yeah, I guess."

"So what can I do for you?" Sam asked.

"Isn't it obvious? I need you to find someone for me."

Sam just looked at him for a minute. This had to be the first someone his age had ever asked for help. She wasn't exactly sure what to do. "Um, are your parents here?"

The boy rolled his eyes. "If I knew where my parents were I wouldn't be here, would I?"

"You want me to find your parents."

"Forget it. I don't even know why I came here. You're not going to help me," he said before he started to walk away.

"Wait!" Sam called after him. She couldn't just let this boy walk away. She didn't know why but she couldn't. She felt she had to do something for him. "I didn't say I wouldn't help you. Why don't you sit down and tell me what's going on?"

The boy reluctantly walked back and sat down.

"So talk to me? Why do you need me to find your parents? Where did they go?" Sam asked.

"How should I know? Isn't that what you're supposed to figure out?"

"Well, when's the last time you saw them?" Sam asked. She figured she'd start by asking the questions she'd ask typical clients, even though she was pretty sure this wouldn't be a typical case.

"I don't know. I don't remember them," he said sadly.

"Oh, you're adopted," Sam realized. It was the only thing that made sense. The problem was that she couldn't help him if he was adopted. Those kinds of files were sealed. She'd lose her license for even trying.

"No. I'm not adopted!" the boy yelled. "You think I'd be here if I was adopted.

"Okay, then what is it? If you're not adopted then what happened to your parents?" Sam asked.

"I don't know. All I know is that I've been in over a dozen foster homes since I was four. Nobody can tell me what happened to my parents. The best I got was that I was left in a hospital when I was a kid," he said.

Sam sighed. She felt for the kid. She could relate to his circumstances. She'd never been in foster care, but she did know what it was like to be around people who couldn't have cared less about you. "I'm sorry."

"I don't need your pity! Can you help me or not?"

"I might be able to, but I'm not sure I should," Sam said. She did want to help this boy. She saw so much of herself in the kid. She could even picture herself going to someone just like this at his age. But she also knew what it was like to be disappointed by what she found. When she'd found her adoptive mother, she'd been utterly crushed when the woman didn't seem to care whether she lived or died. She wasn't sure she could risk putting that kind of disappointment on child.

"Why not? Is it money? Because I can get money," he assured her.

"No, it's not about money. I just don't think you understand what you could be risking by doing this. You may not like what you find," Sam told him.

"Look, I'm not stupid, okay? I know my parents might not be good people. But I still have to meet them. I have to find out if they left me and why. And if they didn't, I need to know what really happened," the boy said.

Sam was still hesitant. She still wasn't sure this was a good idea. She didn't want to be responsible for tearing what was left of this young boy's life apart. On the other hand though, she doubted anything was going to stop him from finding his family. He would find another way, just as she did. At least if she helped, she might be able to shield him from some of it if it turned out bad. "Do you know what hospital you were taken to.

"Mercy. Does this mean you'll help me?" he asked hopefully.

"Yes. I will help you. It could take time though," Sam warned.

The boy stood up and handed her a piece of paper. "That's my number. Call me when you have something," he said before starting to leave again.

"Hold on a sec. If I'm going to do this, I need to know your name," Sam said.

"Jake. My name is Jake."


	2. Chapter 2

Sam walked into the penthouse and found Jason sitting on the couch. "Hey."

"Hey," Jason said smiling as he went up and kissed her.

Sam kissed him back for a few minutes and then broke away. "Oh, I so needed that. It's been a very long day."

"Yeah, I noticed. You're usually home before this," Jason said.

'Yeah, sorry about that. I caught a case just before I was going to call it quits," Sam said as she took off her jacket.

"Another insecure guy wanting to know if his wife's cheating on him?" Jason asked. His wife tended to get a lot of those, as did most PIs, he imagined.

"No, actually it's a twelve-year-old boy," Sam said.

Jason raised an eyebrow in surprise. A kid went to Sam for help like that? That had to be a first.

"Yeah, I was just as surprised as you were. He just came strolling into my office and said he needed a PI," Sam said.

"What could a kid possibly need with a PI?" Jason asked as he sat back down on the couch. He couldn't think of any reason that a kid that age would need Private Investigator.

Sam sat down next to Jason. "He wants me to find his parents. Apparently, he was left at a hospital when he was young. No one knows who his parents are or where they all."

"You told him you'd help him, didn't you?" Jason asked. It was barely a question. He knew his wife very well. She would likely see herself in this young boy. The circumstances were quite similar. For years Sam wondered about her real family. She was desperate to them so that she could some place to belong.

Sam nodded. "At first I wasn't sure I should. I know from firsthand experience that digging up the past about your family doesn't always turn out the way you want it to. I thought that possibly putting all that on a kid might be too much."

"What changed your mind?" Jason asked.

"Like I said, he reminds me a lot of myself, which means he's not going to just give up if I say 'no'. He'll try to find another way. At least with me, I'll be able to soften the blow a little if it turns out bad," Sam said.

"This kid really got to you, didn't he?" Jason asked.

Sam nodded. "He's a foster kid, Jason. He's been shuffled around all his life to people who couldn't have cared less about him. I know what that's like. I also know what it's like to finally find people who do care about you. That's why I need to help him. He deserves to feel that too."

"Everyone deserves that. Bus, Sam, you have to know that you might not be able to do that for him. If his parents left him in a hospital, they probably weren't the best parents," Jason said. He could see that Sam was desperate to help this boy. So much so that he was worried about what would happen if she couldn't come through.

"I know, Jason. Believe me, I know that this might not end happily for Jake," Sam said.

"Jake?"

"Yeah, that's his name. Maybe that's another reason I feel I need to help him," Sam said.

"You mean because he has the same name as my son?" Jason asked.

"Yeah. Maybe it's fate. Maybe I'm supposed to help this boy the way I never helped Jake," Sam said before looking down. She still carried a lot of guilt for what she did to Jake all those years ago, or what she didn't do would be more accurate.

Jason sighed. He knew exactly what his wife was talking about. She was talking about how she'd watched Jake get kidnapped when he was a baby. She still felt a lot of guilt over that. "Sam, it's been twelve years. I've forgiven you, so has Elizabeth. When are you going to forgive yourself?"

"I don't know. Maybe never. I watched as your son was taken away by a crazy woman," Sam said guiltily. She wasn't sure she'd ever get over the guilt from what happened with Jake. It was just too awful. She wasn't sure how Jason, Elizabeth, and Lucky were able to forgive her for that.

"Yeah, but we found him. We brought him home. Even if it was just for a few years," Jason said before looking down sadly. Even after eight years, Jake's death still hurt him deeply. Watching Jake die on that operating table had been the worse experience of his life. He'd always carry the pain of losing him with him.

Another wave of guilt hit Sam as she looked at her husband's face. "Oh, Jason, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have brought this up."

"No, it's okay. It's not your fault. I'm always going to miss Jake and I'm always going to think about him. Being with you and the kids does help though," Jason said. He didn't know what he would've done without Sam and his children. He loved them like crazy.

"Mommy!"

"Speaking of. I better go check on her," Sam said before heading upstairs to check on her daughter.

Jason went over to his desk and opened the top drawer. He took out a yellow toy motorcycle. It was what Jake was playing with the last time he saw him. He took it out when he was missing the boy. He missed Jake a lot. He loved his other children like crazy, but they couldn't replace Jake. No one could.

"Jason, a little help up here!" Sam called.

"Coming," Jason said before putting the toy back and heading up the stairs.


	3. Chapter 3

Sam walked from her car down to her office. She found Jake waiting by the door. "Hey, Jake. Were you waiting long?

"No, I just got here," Jake said.

"Well, come on in," Sam said as she unlocked the door to her office. She walked inside and held the door open for Jake to do the same. She then closed the door behind him. "Have a seat."

Jake sat down in front of Sam's desk.

Sam sat down at her desk and took out a pen and paper. "Okay, if I'm going to help you, I need as much information as I can get."

Jake nodded. "I talked to my social worker. She told me a little."

"Okay, you said you were taken to Mercy hospital. Do you know the exact date?" Sam asked.

"March 18, 2011, but I was transferred there from another hospital. I don't know which one," Jake said.

"Okay," Sam said as she wrote the information down. "Do you know why you were hospitalized?"

"I remember being kind of hurt for a while. My head mostly," Jake said.

Sam stopped for a minute. That sounded like he might have been abused. It made sense with the boy's parents abandoning him. Thy may have done it just to avoid being charged. She made a mental note to make sure she found out exactly what happened before telling Jake anything about them. "Do you remember anything about your parents?'

Jake shook his head. "Not really. I don't remember their faces or anything. I don't think I was an only child though. I remember another kid. I remember playing with him."

"Do you remember a name?" Sam asked.

"No," Jake said.

"Do you remember getting hurt?" Sam asked. If he was abused, she hoped he didn't remember. No kid should have that in their head.

"Well, not exactly. I do remember being kind of scared. Sometimes I dream about it. I see this really bright light and then I get really scared. Before I can see where it comes from, I wake up. I'm not even sure it's real," Jake explained.

Sam furrowed her eyebrows. That seemed a bit strange, but decided to let it go for now. She'd figure it out later. "Okay, is there anything else you can tell me?"

Jake shook his head.

"What about your birthday. When were you born?" Sam asked.

He shrugged his shoulders. "Your guess is as good as mine. No one knows who my parents are, so how can they know my birthday? Social Services just kicked a day off the calendar. April 5."

"Okay. Well, it's not a lot to go on, but I'll see what I can do. In the meantime, you should get to school," Sam said. It was a Wednesday and it was ten in the morning. She knew he was supposed to be in school.

Jake stood up and started for the door. "What's it matter. I won't be here long anyway."

Sam sighed sadly as she watched him leave. She had a feeling she knew what he meant. He was a foster kid. He probably meant that he would be moved somewhere else soon. She knew what that was like too. Not the foster kid part, but the moving around constantly. It sucked.

Sam made a vow to herself then and there that she would find some way to help this boy. Even if finding his parents didn't work out, she would find some way to make life better for him. She had to.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Sam walked through Mercy hospital. She was there to see what she could find out about Jake's stay there eight years ago. Normally that would be an impossibility due to confidentiality, but she had a friend there that was a nurse and she was hoping the woman would help her.

Sam looked over at the nurses' station and smiled when she saw who she was looking for. She immediately went over and greeted a young woman with long blond hair. "Sophie."

The woman looked up. "Sam, hi. What brings you here? You okay?"

"Oh, I'm fine. I'm here on a case actually and I could really use a favor," Sam said.

"How big a favor are we talking about?" Sophie asked.

"Very big. Empire State Building kind of big. I'm working on a case. A twelve-year-old boy wants to find his parents. Now he was treated here about eight years ago, probably for head trauma," Sam explained.

"I wasn't working her back then, and even if I was, there is no way I'd remember a patient from that long ago."

"I know. That's why I need you to get me his file," Sam said.

"Are you insane? I'd be putting my job at risk," Sophie whispered harshly.

"I know. And I know it's a lot to ask, but I have to ask. This kid has nobody. He's alone. I have to help him. Please, Sophie," Sam begged.

Sophie looked at her hesitantly for a few minutes before asking, "What's his name?"

"Jacob Thomson," Sam answered.

"Give me a few days," she said.

Sam breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you."

"You owe me big time, Sam."

"And I promise you I will deliver. Thank you so much," Sam said before walking away.


	4. Chapter 4

Sam felt a pair of warm hands wrap around her as she woke up. She smiled and opened her eyes. "Oh, that feels nice. I wish I could wake up like this every morning," Sam said.

"Who says you can't?" Jason asked as he held her.

Sam laughed. "The fact that we both have very important jobs and two rambunctious kids," Sam said.

They then heard loud noises coming from the hallway and seen two small children came flooding into the room.

"Speaking of," Jason said as caught his three-year-old son Daniel and helped him onto the bed. Daniel had blond hair and blue eyes. The boy looked a lot himself and Jake.

Sam, meanwhile, picked their six-year-old daughter, Emily up. "Hey, you. Did you sleep well?"

"Yup! I'm hungry," Emily said.

"Me too!" Daniel piped up.

"Hungry? Well, we'll have to do something about that. So what do you want? Oatmeal?" Sam asked, already knowing the answer.

"No!" both children said at once.

"No? How about cereal?" she asked.

"No!"

Sam laughed. "Okay, how about pancakes?" Sam asked.

"Yeah!"

"Somehow I saw that coming. Alright, you two go downstairs and wait. We'll be down in a minute," Sam told her children and then watched them scurry out of the room.

Jason started to get up out of bed. "Well, it was nice while it lasted."

"Yeah. Time to get back to real life," Sam said as she too started to get up. Just then her phone rang. "Huh. Someone's got ESP," she said before picking up the phone. "Hello?"

"_Hey, Sam, it's Lucky."_

"Lucky, hi. What's up?" Sam asked.

"_Sorry to bother you on your day off, but I have a situation down here. A patrol officer found a kid sleeping on the docks and brought him in. He won't tell us his name or where he lives. The only thing he would give us is your name," _Lucky said.

Sam closed her eyes sadly. She had a feeling she knew exactly who Lucky was talking about. It was Jake. "Okay, I'll be right there. Thanks for calling, Lucky," she said.

"What's wrong?" Jason asked as he got dressed.

"I think my newest client just got arrested," Sam said.

"For what?' Jason asked.

"He was found sleeping on the docks. Lucky has him down at the station. I have to go," Sam said apologetically. It was Sunday. Their family day. It was the one day of the week that they shut out the rest of the world and just spent together as a family. But she couldn't leave Jake with the police. She just couldn't.

"I know. You wouldn't be you if you didn't," Jason said.

"Sorry," Sam said as she started towards her dresser to get clothes out.

"Don't be. You do what you have to do. I'll take care of things here," Jason said.

"I knew there was a reason I married you," Sam said smiling before starting for her bathroom.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Sam walked into the police station and found Jake sitting in a chair by Lucky's desk. She immediately went over to them.

"Sam, good you're here. You know my friend here?" Lucky asked.

"Yeah, I know him," Sam said before turning to Jake. "What happened, Jake?"

"So that's your name. Jake," Lucky commented.

"Jake Thomson," Sam told him. "Jake, why aren't you at home right now?"

"It's not my home!" Jake practically screamed.

"So where is your home?" Lucky asked.

Jake looked at Sam. "Did you find out yet?"

"No. I'm still working on it," Sam said before turning to Lucky. "Jake has asked me to find his biological parents. I'm still working on it." She then turned back to Jake. "In the meantime, you need to go back to your foster home."

"I'm not going back there. They're going to kick me out. I heard them. They called my social worker and said they didn't want me anymore. They'll send me away, probably to another town or something. I won't leave until I find my parents!" Jake said stubbornly.

Sam looked over at Lucky, silently asking to talk to him privately. Her ex apparently got the message because he led her to a corner away from Jake. "Is there anything you can do for him?"

"Like what? Sam, this is a child services matter," Lucky said. It wasn't that he didn't want to help because he did. He didn't know what it was, but when he looked at that boy, he felt the overwhelming urge to do something for him. He just didn't know how he could help.

"Well, can't you talk to his social worker or something?" Sam asked. She was desperate. She needed to find some way to help Jake.

Lucky thought for a few minutes. Suddenly a solution popped into his head. "You know, Robin and Patrick are foster parents."

"Yeah, I heard about that. You think you can get them to take him for a while?" Sam asked. That would actually be the perfect solution. Not only would Jake still be in Port Charles where she could help him, but he'd also be with people she trusted.

"I don't see why not. Robin's always looking for ways to help kids, Patrick too," Lucky said.

"And you think Social Services will agree?"

"I don't see why not. They're licensed and everything," Lucky said.

"Do it," Sam said before going over to Jake. "Okay, listen, my friend is going to contact a mutual friend about you staying with her and her family for a while. At least until I can figure out what happened to you all those years ago."

"Another foster home," Jake said unhappily.

"Yes, but it'll be right here in Port Charles so that I can keep trying to find your parents. It's the best option you're going to get right now. You have to do something for me though. Now I don't know how you were with your other foster homes, but I need you to try to make the best out of this one. No running away, no skipping school, none of that. Got it?" Sam asked.

Jake sighed. "Sure."

"Good."

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Sam walked into the penthouse a few hours later. After getting Robin and Patrick to agree, which actually hadn't been that hard, she helped get Jake settled in.

Jason walked down the stairs just as Sam was coming in. "Hey. How'd it go?"

"Good. The situation's under control. Robin and Patrick just got a new foster son." She said.

"Really? They took him in?"

"Yeah. I had to assure Patrick that it wasn't Mob related, but after that, he quickly agreed. How's everything here?" Sam asked before yawning.

Jason laughed. "They're both taking their nap. Speaking of, you look like you need one of this yourself. How does a massage and a nap sound.

"Oh, like heaven," Sam said smiling longingly.

"Let's go then," Jason said before leading her upstairs.


	5. Chapter 5

A few days later, Sam was walking downstairs when she heard a knock at the door. She immediately went over and opened it. She found her friend Sophie on the other side with a folder in her hand. "Hey, Sophie. Come on in."

"Hi, Sam," Sophie said as she walked inside.

Sam closed the door behind her. "Is that what I hope it is," she asked, referring to the folder. She hoped it was the file that was going to help her find Jake's family.

Sophie nodded. "Yeah, sorry it took so long. It was a bit hard to find. Your boy wasn't admitted as Jacob Thomson."

"He wasn't?" Sam asked surprised.

She shook her head. "No. He was listed as a John Doe. And as I'm sure you can guess, we get a lot of those."

Sam nodded. She probably should've guessed that this would happen. If no one knew who Jake's parents were, there was no way they'd know who Jake was.

"Anyway, it wasn't until the child recovered a bit that he was able to give a first name. He didn't seem to know his last name though, so social services made one up. It's all in here," Sophie said before handing her the file.

Sam opened the file and started reading. The first thing that caught her attention was that Jake was transferred to Mercy from General Hospital. "He was transferred from General Hospital. Why would they transfer him?"

"Their intake for that day was too high, they were understaffed," Sophia guessed. "It could be any number of reasons."

Sam continued to read. "It says the doctor in charge was Doctor Matt Hunter. Um, you need to help me out here, Sophie. I'm seeing a bunch of medical mumbo jumbo I can't understand."

Sophie smiled and took the file. "He was admitted with severe head trauma. He was taken straight to surgery. He apparently had bleeding in the brain. It says he coded a couple of times on the table too. This kid just barely escaped with his life. But he did get lucky. It says here he didn't sustain any permanent brain damage. His other injuries were pretty superficial considering."

"Did it say how he received his injuries?" Sam asked.

"Child abuse is listed. Probably because he was just left at the hospital. According to the file, some woman placed him an orderly's arms and ran off. Looking at his injuries though, anything could've caused these injuries. They don't scream child abuse like most cases I've seen do. Though, I suppose it could be a onetime incident. It does happen. Not often, but it does," Sophie told her.

Sam sighed. "This isn't helping me like I thought it would."

Sophie looked at her sadly. "Sorry. I wish I could be of more help."

"Maybe I can talk to Matt. Maybe he'll tell me something," Sam said, mostly to herself. She was pretty sure she could get Matt Hunter to talk to her. She knew he couldn't tell her much because of confidentiality, but maybe, just maybe she could get something out of him that would help.

Xxxxxxxxxxxx

"Are you crazy?" asked a shell shocked Matt Hunter. He couldn't believe what Sam Morgan was asking him to do. She wanted him to divulge information about a patient.

Sam sighed. She knew this was going to happen at first. "Matt, I need to find out who this kid is."

"Well, you're going to have to do it some other way. I can't break confidentiality. I'll lose my license," Matt said.

"No, you won't. There are no parents to sue and the child certainly doesn't care. He'll do anything to find the answers he's looking for," Sam said.

"Is that what you're going to tell Robin or the board if they find out? Because they're not going to see it that way. All they're going to see is a doctor who broke his oath," Matt said.

"Actually, you'd be keeping it. You became a doctor to help others, right? Well, this little boy needs our help to find out who he is," Sam said. "Look, I already have the file. Would you just look at the file and tell me if you remember him?"

Matt sighed and took the file. He skimmed it for a few seconds. "Yeah, I remember." Normally he probably wouldn't have remembered the case, but that had been a bad day for everyone on staff. "I can't tell you anything else though. I can't break confidentiality. Besides, you have all the information you need right here."

"There must be something you know that's not in there. I mean, something about this boy made you remember him," Sam said. She had been a bit surprised when Matt said he remembered Jake so quickly. She was glad he did, but she half expected to have to seriously jog him memory for him to remember. It had been eight years ago and Matt had a lot of patients.

"It wasn't the kid. It was the day," Matt said.

"What was so special about it?" Sam asked.

"Are you seriously telling me you don't remember what happened on the 17 of March?" Matt asked. He found that hard to believe. After all, it had been her husband's child that died.

"Of course I remember. It's the day Jason lost his son," Sam said. She would never forget that day. Now that she thought about it though, it was just a day later that Jake, this Jake, had been injured. "So that's why it's so memorable for you? Because it was the day after Jake died?"

"No it was the day Jake died," Matt corrected.

"What?" Sam asked. Jason's son had died on the seventeenth. Jake Thomson had his accident on the eighteenth. Matt had to be mistaken. "No, this boy was hurt on the eighteenth."

Matt shook his head. "No, he wasn't. I was in surgery with this child when Patrick lost Jake on the operating table. It's even in the file. He was brought in on the seventeenth."

Sam took the file and looked where Matt had pointed. And he was right. Jake was injured on the seventeenth. Jake. Jacob Webber and Jacob Thomson were both injured on the same day. What were the odds of that? Two little boys, the same age, the same name, both injured on the exact same day with head trauma. Coincidences that big were just out of the realm of possibilities.

Sam started to think back to the day Jake came into her office. She remembered thinking that he looked just like Jason and their children. They all had the same eyes. She then remembered what Jake told her about his memory of what happened. He said he saw a bright light. That could've been headlights.

The more Sam thought about it, the more in common she found between the two children named Jake. She couldn't believe it, but there were just too many similarities for what she was thinking to not be true.

"Sam, what is it?" Matt asked.

"Matt, what did he look like?" Sam asked.

"What?"

"The boy you operated on. What did his face look like?" she asked.

"Sam, I can't-"

"Do not quote confidentiality here, Matt! This is too important. We're not just talking about this child now. So many people will be affected," Sam said. If her theory was true, it would it would chance a lot of lives.

"His face was badly bruised. There wasn't much to see," Matt said.

"So if you knew him, you wouldn't recognize him."

Matt shook his head.

Sam took a deep breath. It was true. It had to be. There was simply no other explanation for all this. Jake Thomson was really Jake Webber. Jason and Elizabeth's little boy.


	6. Chapter 6

Sam walked into the penthouse and immediately started looking for her husband. "Jason? You home?" She hoped he wasn't. She was still reeling from the possibility that Jake was Jake Webber and she was afraid Jason would pick up on it. He couldn't find out yet. Not until she knew for absolute certain that Jake was his son. She would not rock his entire world for nothing.

Sam looked around and saw a note on the table. She picked up and started reading it aloud to herself. 'Something came up that I had to take care. Kids are with Alexis. I'll be back soon. Love Jason.'

She put the note down and smiled. "Perfect." She immediately went upstairs, through her bedroom and into the bathroom. She grabbed Jason's toothbrush and put it in a small baggie. She was going to take it to get tested with Jake's DNA. She'd already gotten Jake's DNA when she was at the Drake's earlier. Now all she had to do was get it tested.

Sam went downstairs and headed back for the door. She stopped at the last minute and opened Jason's desk, which was next to the door. She took out a picture of Jake and stared at it for a minute. "Is it really you? Could you really be alive?"

If it was Jake, she had to wonder how it happened. How did Jason's little boy get switched with another child. Who had been responsible for all this?

Sam shook those thoughts away. It didn't matter right now. All that mattered now was finding out the truth. She would find out why later.

Sam put the picture back in the desk and walked out the door.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Sam knocked on Robin's office door at GH. She was going to ask Robin to do the test for her. After giving it much thought, Robin was the only option she could come up with. She thought about going to Sophie again, but for one, she thought she might be pushing it by asking for such a big favor so soon after the last one. Second, she wasn't sure Sophie would be able to do it. She was just a nurse after all.

"Come in," she heard Robin say.

Sam opened the door. "Hey."

"Hi, what's up?" Robin asked. She'd been at her desk doing paperwork when Sam had knocked.

"I need your help," Sam said.

"Sure. Is this about Jake?" Robin asked. Jacob Thomson had been in her care for about a week now and Sam had shown up at least four days so far. It was clear that she cared very deeply for the young man, so whatever Sam wanted, it was likely about him.

Sam nodded. "Yeah, it is. You know I've been searching for his parents, right? That's why I asked you guys to take him. So he wouldn't be sent away before I could give him the answers he deserves.

Robin nodded. "We were glad to help. I know what it's like to grow up without your parents. So anything I can do to help Jake, just let me know."

"I'm so glad you said that. I think I may have found his parents, but I need a DNA test to confirm," Sam said.

"Okay. Bring them in and we can run the test," Robin said.

Sam shook her head. "It's not that simple. I can't tell his parents about him yet. It'll destroy them if it's not their son. It has to be a secret. I have the samples, I just need them run."

"Sam, that's strictly against hospital regulations. You can't just take DNA from somebody and have it tested," Robin said.

"Nobody's going to complain once the truth is out, believe me," Sam said. Aside from Jake's, the only other sample she'd taken was from Jason. He certainly wasn't going to sue anyone for reuniting him with his son.

"You're going to have to do better than that, Sam. Like I said, I want to help Jake, but I can't risk the integrity of the hospital," Robin said. It wasn't just her and Sam she was worried about. They were talking about huge privacy laws her. No one would ever trust anyone at GH again.

Sam snorted. "Robin, if I'm right, the integrity of this hospital is already in serious question."

"What do you mean?"

Sam sighed. She knew she was going to have to tell her. There was no way to avoid it. It was the only way to get Robin to agree. Besides, Robin wouldn't say anything. She was friends with both Jason and Elizabeth. She wouldn't want to see them hurt unnecessary if this turned out to be a mistake. "Okay. The sample I want you to test Jake's DNA against is Jason's."

"Jason. You think Jason is Jake's father?" Robin asked surprised.

"Jake's been in your home for a week. You must have noticed the resemblance," she said.

Now that Robin thought about, she remembered commenting to Patrick that Jake reminded her of someone. Thinking about it further now, she realized that that person was Jason. "Yeah, he does look a lot like Jason. He kind of acts like him too."

"Exactly."

"But it happens. Just because a person looks like someone else doesn't' mean they're related," Robin said.

"No, it doesn't. Believe me, I'm not going off of looks alone. Jake is twelve. He's doesn't know exactly know when his birthday is, but it's rounded off to around April," Sam said. Jake Webber was born in May. It was only a month's difference. It was another coincidence that didn't' sit well with Sam.

"I'm not following," Robin said.

"Just keep listening. It'll make sense in a second," Sam told her.

Robin nodded.

"Jake was brought into this ER eight years ago. He suffered head trauma. It was on March 17, 2011," Sam continued.

"Why does that date sound so familiar?" Robin asked.

"Because it was the day Elizabeth's little boy was brought in after a hit and run. Her son _Jake,_" Sam said pointedly.

Robin's eyes widened. It finally clicked. "Wait a second. Are you saying that Jake Thomson is actually Jake Webber?"

Sam nodded. "I think so."

"That's impossible. I was in the operating room with Patrick. I watched as his brain function read zero. He was brain dead. His organs were donated," Robin said. This just wasn't possible. As much as she wished it wasn't true, Jake was dead.

"I'm not saying all of that didn't happen. I'm saying it didn't happen to Elizabeth and Jason's little boy. Robin, you said you were in the operating room, but could you tell it was him. Did you recognize his face?" Sam asked.

"Well, no. His face was all bruised and cut up from the accident. We couldn't tell it was him just by looking. That's why Steven didn't let Elizabeth see him before the surgery. But if not Jake, who else could it have been?" Robin wondered. She conceded that it wasn't totally impossible, but she still didn't see how it could've happened.

"I spoke to Matt Hunter. He also had a four-year-old patient that night with similar injuries."

Robin sighed and brought her hand to her head. "So what you're saying is you think Matt was working on Jake while Patrick and I were working on someone else. Someone who wasn't Jake Webber."

"Yeah,' Sam said.

"Oh my God. Do you realize what that could mean? We declared that little boy dead when it wasn't true. We sent three parents' lives into the abyss," Robin said. She just couldn't believe it. They had not only failed Jake and his family, they'd failed to do what they'd sworn to do. As doctors, they all took an oath to do no harm. Well, a lot of harm had been done if this was true.

"Right now it doesn't matter how this happened. I just want to prove that it did happen. There'll be time to figure out why later," Sam said. She still wanted to know why and she knew Jason would want to know too, but right now she just wanted to give her husband his child back.

"Hang on a second. Now, Elizabeth was very well known on staff. Almost everyone has seen her children. One of them should've recognized Jake when he got better," Robin said.

"They probably would've, but Jake wasn't here when he got better. He was transferred to Mercy the next day. Probably, ironically, because of the chaos of him being 'dead'."

'Right. Yeah, we did transfer a few patients that morning. My God. He was right under our noses and we sent him away," Robin said. She couldn't believe how badly they screwed up. How could they have let this happen?

"Look, it doesn't matter right now. We need proof for Jason, Elizabeth, and Lucky," Sam said.

"Right. Alright, give me the samples. I'll run them," Robin said.

Sam handed over the two samples she collected.

"I'll get these to the lab and put a rush on them. In the meantime, I'm gonna go through the files and try to piece together what happened that night.

"How long before we know?" Sam asked. She needed to know how long she should avoid Jason.

"Hopefully sometime tomorrow. I'll call you as soon as the results are in. Once we get the confirmation, I'll start a formal inquiry into what happened.

"Thank you. For everything," Sam said before leaving.


	7. Chapter 7

Sam crept through the house the next day while everyone was still asleep. She needed to get out of there before Jason woke up. She couldn't let him see how anxious she was. He would know for sure then that something was wrong.

Sam grabbed her keys off the desk and started for the door.

"Where you going?"

Sam yelped in surprise. She turned and saw Jason on the stairs. "Jason, you scared the hell out of me."

Jason walked all the way down the stairs and towards his wife. "What's going on, Sam? Where you going?"

"Just to the office," Sam said nonchalantly.

"It's Sunday. You never go to work on Sunday. It's our family day," Jason said. He knew something was up. Sam was avoiding him big time.

"I know, but I have some work that I've been neglecting big time," Sam lied.

"Really? So you're not trying to avoid me?" Jason asked.

Sam shifted uncomfortably. "Why would I be avoiding you?"

"You tell me. You've been acting weird for days. You're gone before I get up and you don't come home until I'm asleep. That sounds like avoidance to me. What's going on? Jason asked.

"Nothing. It's just that I've been busy," Sam said.

"We're married. We're not supposed to keep secrets from each other," he said.

Sam sighed. She could sense that he wasn't just going to let this go. She was going to have to tell him something. "Okay, you're right. I am avoiding you."

"Why? Did I do something to upset you?" Jason asked. If he had done something, he wanted to know what it was so that he could fix it.

"No, of course not. You've been just as wonderful as you always are," Sam said.

"Then what is it?"

"I can't. And believe me; it's not that I don't want to. I would tell you if I could, but I can't," Sam said.

"Why not?" Jason asked.

"Because telling you could end up causing you more pain than you've ever felt before," Sam said.

"It's that bad?" he asked.

"No, it's that good. What I have found out could make or break you, Jason. If it's true, it'll fill you with more joy than you've ever felt before. But if I'm wrong, it could very well destroy you," Sam explained.

"You don't think I can handle it?"

"No. I know you can handle a lot, Jason, but not this. And I know that because I know I wouldn't be able to handle it," Sam said. She knew if she was told that her little girl was alive and it turned out to not be true, it would kill her. She couldn't do that to Jason.

"Okay, but it's for me to decide how much I can handle," Jason said.

"Jason, I'm not trying to make your choices from you. I'm not. I just can't justify ripping your life open like this until I'm sure. And I know if the circumstances were reversed, you'd do the same for me," Sam said

Jason sighed. He couldn't exactly argue with that. If he knew something that might hurt Sam more if she knew, he probably would keep it a secret. How could he expect her to do anything different? "How long before you will know."

"Hopefully not long. I'm expecting the call sometime today," Sam told him.

"Okay. I can wait that long. Come on, let's go back to bed," Jason said as he held out his hand.

Sam smiled and took his hand, letting him lead her back upstairs.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Robin made her way to the nurse's station. She found Epiphany at her usual spot. "Hey, Epiphany, have I gotten anything from the lab yet?"

"For the millionth time, no," Epiphany said.

Robin smiled sheepishly. She had been asking that same question quite a bit today. She was just really anxious to get the results of Jake and Jason's DNA test. "These tests are just really important."

"And I'll let you know when they come in," Epiphany said.

"Thanks," Robin said. She was about to leave when she ran into Patrick.

"Hey, Gorgeous. Glad you're here. I was by the lab. They asked me to give this to you," Patrick said as he handed an envelope to his wife.

"About time," Robin said as she took the envelope and tore it open. She read the results several times. She was shocked. She knew that it was possible, but she hadn't truly believed it was actually true until that moment.

"Robin, are you okay?" Patrick asked concerned.

Robin looked up at her husband. "Page Matt and Steven and meet me by the conference room in an hour. We made a terrible mistake."

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Sam and Jason were in the kitchen with their children getting ready for dinner. Sam was helping her son into his booster seat when she heard her phone ring. She immediately froze.

Jason stopped what he was doing as well. "Is that it?"

"Only one way to find out," Sam said. She put Daniel down in his chair and immediately went for her phone. "Hello?"

"_Sam, it's Robin."_

"Yeah, I figured. Tell me something good," Sam said.

"_I need you and Jason to come down to the hospital. I've already contacted Lucky and paged Elizabeth," _Robin said.

"Does this mean…?"

"_DNA's a match. Jake is Jason and Elizabeth's little boy," _Robin said.

Sam let out the breath she'd been holding. "Thank you, Robin. We'll be right down."


	8. Chapter 8

Jason followed Sam through the hospital towards the conference room. He stopped her about halfway through. "Hey. Are you going to tell me what's going on?"

"Yeah, I will, I promise. I just don't want to say it more than once. Also, Robin has things she needs to discuss with us once you do know," Sam said.

"Does Robin know about this?" Jason asked.

Sam nodded. "Yeah, I had to tell her to get her help."

"Help with what?" Jason asked. he still had no clue what was going on, but he knew it was big.

"Jason, I promise I'll explain everything, but for now can we just go meet Robin and the others?" Sam asked.

Jason wanted to ask what the others were, but he decided to wait. He was sure Sam would tell him soon. "Okay."

Sam then led him up to the conference room where Lucky and Elizabeth were waiting. "Hey."

"Hey, guys. Any idea what this is about?" Lucky asked.

"I haven't a clue but Sam does," Jason said.

Sam opened her mouth to speak when she noticed Robin, Patrick, Matt, and Steven coming their way. They all looked shocked and in Steven's case, guilty. Sam was sure that he was feeling guilty for not being able to catch the mistake before it happened.

"Hey, guys. Thanks for coming," Robin said.

"What's going on?" Lucky asked.

"Let's go inside and talk," Robin said. She then led the way inside the conference. "Have a seat, everyone."

All four doctors sat on one side of the table while Jason, Sam, Lucky, and Elizabeth sat on the other side.

"Okay, the first thing I want to say is how sorry we all are. This never should've happened and we are doing everything we can to figure out how it did," Robin said.

"Okay, I think I speak for all of us when I ask, what exactly happened?" Lucky asked.

Robin looked at Sam. She figured since Sam was the reason this all came out in the first place, she should be allowed to tell it.

Sam looked at Jason and took his hand. "Jason you need to prepare yourself. All of you do. This is going to be a shock. A few weeks ago, a young boy came into my office. He was seperated from hsi parents when he was young and he wanted me to help find them."

"This is about Jake?" Jason asked surprised. He knew that Sam was still set on helping Jake find his family, but he failed to see what that had to do with him.

"Jake? what about Jake?" Elizabeth asked. What did any of this have to do with her dead son.

"No, they're not talking about our Jake. The kid Sam's been trying to help, his name is Jake. That's who she's talking about," Lucky explained.

"Actually, I'm talking about both. Lucky, you met Jake. What was your first impression? The first thing that came into your head?" Sam asked.

"'He seemed familiar to me," Lucky said. Truth be told, he hadn't been able to get that kid out of his head since he met him. Something about him just wouldn't let him.

"That's because he was familiar to you, Lucky. You knew him. At least you used to. Look, the more I looked into this case, the more the pieces started to fit," Sam said.

"Well, can you make them fit for us please. What does any of this have to do with my son?" Elizabeth asked impatiently.

'Elizabeth, came down. She's trying to explain," Lucky said.

"I'm sorry. I realize probably not doing a very good job explaining this," Sam said. She just wasn't sure how to explain. How did you tell three parents that the child they thought they'd lost was still very much alive?

"Just say it, Sam? Whatever it is, it'll be okay," Jason promised.

Sam decided to just focus on Jason and tell them that way. "The first time I met Jake, I noticed something familiar about him, just like Lucky did. Except what I noticed about him was you."

"What do you mean?"

"He looked like you. He had your blond hair and blue eyes. he looks just like you," Sam said. "And I'm not the only one who noticed it. Robin did and I'm sure Lucky did too."

Now that Sam mentioned it, Lucky did remember seeing a resemblance from Jake to someone else he knew. He hadn't placed it to Jason until just now. Though there was still something else familiar about the boy that Lucky still couldn't place.

'At first I didn't think anything of the resemblence. Sometimes people just look alike. But then I started uncovering other coincidences. I found out that Jake had been admitted to this hospital eight years ago with head trauma. On March 17, 2011," Sam said pointedly.

Lucky felt his body go numb as he realized what Sam was trying to say. "That was the day Jake... Jake..."

"Sam are you saying what I think you are?" Jason asked. He felt like the walls were closing in on him. He couldn't even bring himself to say the words in his head until he heard them from Sam.

Sam nodded. "I had Robin run a DNA test. "Jake Thomson is really Jake Webber. He's your son."


	9. Chapter 9

Jason stared at his wife in shock. He'd had a feeling of what she was going to say, but knowing what she was going to say and hearing the words were two completely different things. He didn't understand how this was possible. He knew Sam would never lie to him, but it just seemed so hard to believe.

"You're lying! Why? Why would you say something like that?" Elizabeth asked angrily.

"Elizabeth, calm down," Lucky said. He too was trying to wrap his mind around this, but he knew one thing. Sam wasn't lying.

"No, I won't calm down! Why are you doing this, Sam? you have everything you want. You have Jason. Isn't that enough?" Elizabeth asked.

"You really think I would lie about something like this?" asked a shocked Sam. She knew all this was overwhelming, but she never thought Elizabeth would accuse her of lying.

"Why not? it wouldn't be the first time you lied!" Elizabeth snarled.

"Stop!" Jason yelled before looking at Sam. "Are you sure?"

"I wouldn't be telling you this if i weren't. I wouldn't do that to you. I had Robin run a DNA test," Sam explained.

Lucky turned to Robin. "And the DNA test that Jake is...?

Robin nodded. "The test results said that the child known as Jacob Thomson is Jason's biological son. Now unless he was with someone else at the same time as Elizabeth..."

"I wasn't," Jason said.

"Then Jake is Jake Webber," Robin finished.

"But it's impossible. Patrick told us Jake was dead. You said he was brain dead," Elizabeth said.

A flash of guilt crossed Patrick's face. "I know. And I'm sorry, but it appears that the child I worked on that night was not Jake."

"There were two children brought in that night with face and head trauma. They both had blond hair. Given how extensive their injuries were, that was the only thing that identified them. Somehow the charts must have been switched or something. Jake went into Matt's ER and the other boy into Patricks'," Robin explained.

"But how could no one notice afterwards? Once the bandages came off, someone would've noticed," Elizabeth said.

"You're right. Under normal circumstances, someone would've noticed. But Jake was tranferred to Mercy the next day," Matt said.

"By who? Why?" Elizabeth asked.

"By me," Steven said guiltily. "We were in chaos that morning. It was right after Jake 'died'. Half the hospital was grieving for him, including myself. i tranferred a few patients. If I had known..."

"It's not your fault, Steve," Lucky said.

"Wait. Why didn't the other kid's parents notice anything. Are you telling me that they just kept my son after finding out he wasn't theirs," Elizabeth asked. She needed to understand this. She couldn't let herself believe it until she did.

"Jake didn't go home with the other boy's parents. They abandoned their son at the hospital. Jake went into Foster Care after he recovered," Sam told her.

"Oh my God!" Elizabeth exclaimed. It wasn't bad enough that she was being told that her baby grew up with strangers, but now she was being told he was in the system. She knew how bad the system could be. She'd heard enough horror stories.

"How could this happen? How could Jake's file just get switched like that?" Lucky asked.

"We're working to figure that out. It could just be an error that a nurse made. Either way, I assure all of you that i will find out," Robin promised.

"What about Jake? Where is my son?" Elizabeth asked. She needed to see her son again. She needed to hold him in her arms.

"He's staying with Patrick and me. We're his foster parents," Robin answered.

"I want to see him," she said.

"Elizabeth, I know you wanna see Jake, but you need to let me talk to him first," Sam said. She wasn't trying to keep Elizabeth from her son, but she knew that Jake needed to be told the situation before he met with his parents.

"What? You can't be serious. He's my son, not yours," Elizabeth said angrily.

"I'm aware of that. But what you need to understand is that Jake has no idea of what's going on. He doesn't remember you or Lucky. All he knows is that he doesn't have parents in his life. Now he asked me to find you for him, but i have no idea what he expects or how he intends to greet you. He needs to be told what is going on before he meets you," Sam explained.

"And why does the person who does that have to be you?" Elizabeth asked.

"Because he knows Sam. She's seen him through this whole thing. Just let her make things easier for Jake," Jason said. He wanted to see Jake too, but he knew that Sam was right. This had to be handled right. Jake's needs had to be put first.

"I agree with Jason and Sam," Lucky said to Elizabeth. i know we both want to see Jake, but his best interests have to come first."

"Just so you both know, it's going to be different this time. When it comes time for Jake to meet his parents, I am going to be there," Jason said firmly. He'd just been given a second chance to be a father to Jake. This time, that was exactly what he was going to be."

Lucky nodded.

Soon everyone stood up and got ready to leave. "I'll continue to look into what happened. As soon as I know something, I will contact all of you," Robin said.

Jason nodded. He and Sam then walked out of the room.


	10. Chapter 10

Sam walked downstairs and saw Jason on the couch holding Jake's toy motorcycle and staring into space. She went over and sat down next to him. "Your mother's gonna keep the kids for the night."

Jason nodded, not really hearing her.

"Are you okay?" Sam asked.

Jason was quiet for several seconds. "I've imagined this day so many times before. I used to dream about it every night. I would open the door and he'd be there smiling, alive and well. Then I would wake up and he'd be gone."

"This isn't a dream, Jason. Your son is alive and well. No one's gonna take this away from you. I promise," Sam said.

"It's just so surreal, you know? It's a dream come true," Jason said.

"I know," Sam said. She knew all too well that Jake being alive was something that Jason dreamed about often. She knew because she had that same dream about her little girl. She was just glad that one of their dreams could come true.

"I used to wonder what he would look like. I spent hours wondering what he would look like now if he'd lived."

"He looks like you, and soon, you'll see that for yourself," Sam said smiling.

Jason closed his eyes and imagined it. He had so longed to see his son's face again. He couldn't wait until that fantasy became a reality. "What's he like?"

"Jason, I think that's something you should find out for yourself. You'll be seeing Jake before you know it. You'll find out what he's like," Sam promised.

Jason turned to her and smiled. "Yeah, thanks to you. I owe you, Sam."

"Jason-"

"No, I do. Just when I think there's no way for life to get any better, you do the impossible. You gave me my son back. Elizabeth may be Jake's mother, but you're the reason I'm going to get to be a father to him," Jason told her. He would never be able to repay her for this. She'd taken the piece of him that had died inside and brought it back to life.

"I did what anyone would've done," Sam said.

"No. Not anyone would've. Most people would've sent Jake away the second he showed up in their office. A twelve-year-old boy with no money and that no one else seemed to care about? Most would've told him to get lost. But you didn't. You did what you had to to help him and you didn't even know who he was at the time. You helped him because it was in your nature to do so," Jason said.

"I did the right thing. I don't deserve some special praise for that," Sam said.

"Still, I won't forget it, not ever. You gave me my son back."

"Well, I hate to say this Jason, but it's not over yet. I still have no idea how Jake's going to react. He wanted to find his parents, but we never talked about what he was going to do once he did. There's also Elizabeth. I know she didn't argue when you said you planned to be a part of Jake's life, but that was because she was in shock. I'm sure that once that wears off, she will try to fight you." Sam said. She didn't want to bring Jason down, but she needed him to know that this wasn't likely to be smooth sailings.

"I know things won't be easy, but we'll get through it. Now that I know Jake is alive, I can deal with anything, including Elizabeth. I'm not walking away this time. I don't want to fight Elizabeth, but I will if I have to," Jason said firmly. He would not succumb to Elizabeth's wishes again. Walking away from Jake was one of his biggest regrets. He finally had a chance to make up for it and he wasn't going to blow it.

"I will support you know matter what, Jake too," Sam said.

"Good because he's gonna need you. You're the only one of us that he knows even the tiniest bit. He'll look to you to help him make sense of this," Jason said.

"Does that bother you?" Sam asked. She wouldn't blame him if it did. She'd done terrible things to him in the past.

"Why would it?" Jason asked. It didn't bother him at all. He was grateful that Jake had someone he trusted to turn to. He was even more grateful that that person was his wife.

"Well, there was a time when you didn't want me anywhere near Jake," Sam reminded him.

"That was a long time ago, Sam. We got passed that," Jason said.

"Yeah, but forgiveness is one thing Jason. Trusting me, near the child I hurt is another," Sam said.

"Sam, if I didn't think I could trust you, I wouldn't have married you, and I certainly wouldn't have had children with you. I trust you with all my heart. And Jake is a big part of that. It there was only one person I felt I could trust him with, it would be you," Jason said.

Sam smiled at him. "I love you.

"I love you too, more than you will ever know," Jason asked. If possible, he was pretty sure he loved Sam even more after what she'd done for him and his child.

Jason stood up from the couch and pulled Sam with him. "Come on, let's go for a ride. I really need to clear my head.


	11. Chapter 11

Sam woke up the next morning and found Jason's side of the bed empty. She looked around and saw her husband looking out their bedroom window. "Hey."

Jason turned to look at her. "Hey. I didn't wake you, did I?" Jason asked.

"No. How long have you been up?" Sam asked.

"A while," Jason said as

He went over and sat next to her. "I didn't really get much sleep last night."

"Thinking about Jake?" Sam asked. It was hardly a question. She knew that Jake had to be what was on her husband's mind. She doubted he was able to think of much else but his oldest son.

"Yeah. I kept thinking that if I went to sleep, I was going to wake up and it would all be a dream. That Jake would still be dead. Just like all the other times I would dream he was alive," Jason said. Finding out that Jake was alive had literally been a dream come true. He'd dreamed his son was alive so many times. It was just so hard to believe that it was actually real this time.

"It's not a dream this time, Jason. Your son is alive. He's right across town. You'll see him soon," Sam said. She'd planned to speak with Jake real soon. That day actually. It was long past time that Jake was reunited with his family.

"What if he doesn't want to see me? I'm his father in name only. He doesn't know me," Jason said.

"Jason, I can't say for sure what's going to happen. He didn't really discuss with me what he planned to do when he found his parent. But I do think he's trying to find a place to belong. That's all I ever wanted when I was his age," Sam said.

"What would you have done if you had found Alexis back then?" Jason asked. He was hoping that if he knew how Sam would've felt, that he could figure out what to expect from Jake.

Sam let out a breath. "Honestly, I'm not sure. Back then I wanted to find my place in this world, but I also had a lot of anger, not to mention abandonment issues. I might just have lashed out at Alexis. But Jason, the situations were different."

"No, they're not. Not for me. For Lucky and Elizabeth they are, but not for me. I left Jake. I gave him up."

"You did that to protect him. Look, I'll be honest. I never really agreed with you walking away from Jake. I thought that you should be a part of Jake's life and I thought it was wrong of Elizabeth to ask you not to be," Sam said. She still held quite a bit resentment for Elizabeth for that very reason. Sure, she was friendly whenever they spoke, but that didn't mean she'd forgotten what Elizabeth did to Jason. "But I know why you made the choice you made. It was noble, if not somewhat misguided."

"Leaving Jake was the biggest mistake I ever made," Jason said. It wasn't until after Jake's 'death' that he realized how wrong it had been to walk away. It was then that he realized that leaving hadn't made a damn bit of difference. It didn't keep Jake safe. It didn't stop Luke from driving drunk and hitting the boy with his car. Jake had been no safer than he would've been with Jason.

"Well, now you have the chance to make it right," Sam said before proceeding to get up and get out of bed. "I'm gonna go get ready and then head over to Robin and Patrick's."

"You're doing it today?" Jason asked.

Sam nodded. "I think enough time has been wasted already. It's time for Jake to know the truth and be reunited with his family."

"How long do you think it'll be before we can see him?" Jason asked. He desperately wanted to see his son. The only thing stopping him from rushing over to Patrick and Robin's was the fact that he knew that would make things worse.

"I'm not sure. I'll know better after I talk to him. I promise you will see him as soon as possible," Sam said.

Jason nodded and then watched his wife head for the shower.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Robin opened her front door and found Sam on the other side. "Hey. Come on in."

"Thanks," Sam said before stepping inside. She noticed Jake sitting on the couch with Patrick. They were watching some kind of sports game. "Hey, Jake."

Jake immediately stood up. "Sam. Do you know anything yet?"

"We'll leave you guys alone," Patrick said. He and Robin then headed up the stairs.

"Let's sit down," Sam said before taking Patrick's previously occupied seat on the couch. Jake sat down next to her. "Yes, Jake. I know everything now."

"Well?" Jake asked a bit tensely.

"Well, it turns out your name is not Jake Thomson, but I'm betting you knew that already. Your full name is Jacob Martin Webber," Sam told him.

"Webber," Jake said as he took that the information in. "Who are my parents?"

"Your mother is a woman named Elizabeth Webber. She's a nurse at the hospital where Robin and Patrick work. As for your father, you actually have two. One you've already met. It's my friend Lucky Spencer," Sam explained.

"The cop?" Jake asked surprised. He remembered him. He was the one who called Sam when he was brought into the police station and helped make it possible for him to stay where he was now. He was okay for a cop.

"Yeah. He's a good man. He's not your biological father, but he loved you very much. Your biological father is a man named Jason Morgan. He's a good man too. Believe me. He would do anything for you," Sam said powerfully.

"Morgan? Isn't that your last name?" Jake asked.

"Yes. Jason is my husband. That's how I know how he feels about you. Being away from you has pained him more than you'll ever know," she said.

"Then why was he away from me? If all these people loved me so much, why did they leave me?" Jake asked bitterly.

"They didn't intentionally. Do you remember what you told me about that memory of yours? Of the bright light? Those were the headlights of a car. Just before your fourth birthday, you wondered off into the middle of the street and you were hit by a car," Sam explained.

"So that's what happened to me? That's why I was at the hospital?" Jake asked for clarification.

"Yes. You sustained injuries to your head. Your injuries were so severe that you weren't recognizable. Another child with similar injuries was brought in. He looked a bit similar to you as well. You were both taken into surgery at about the same time. You lived, the other boy did not," Sam told him. Normally she probably wouldn't be so blunt with a child Jake's age, but she'd spent a lot of time around him. He was not like other kids his age. He could handle the truth. More than that though, he deserved the truth.

"I don't get it. What does some other kid have to do with me?" Jake asked confused.

"You were not the child just carelessly left at the hospital. That was the other boy. Unfortunately there was a mix up and you were confused with him. Basically you're living the life he would've lived had he survived," Sam said.

"Wait, are you saying that I was believed to be him and he was believed to be me?" Jake asked.

"Yes. You see, because your injuries were so severe that no one could tell the difference. Somehow your files must have been switched or something because the boy who died was thought to be the real Jake Webber," Sam explained.

"So the reason I was in foster care was because my family thought I was dead?"

"That's right. Your family has spent the last eight years grieving for you," Sam said.

Jake was quiet for several moments as he took in all the information. He didn't know what he expected when he went to Sam, but this certainly wasn't it. "When can I meet them?"

"You can meet Jason now if you'd like. I can take you back to house with me," Sam said. That seemed to be the best option. She knew Jason would love that.

Jake nodded.

"Okay, go tell Robin and Patrick and then we'll go."

Jake practically bolted up the stairs to do what she said.


	12. Chapter 12

Jason paced his living room nervously. He wished Sam would be get home already. He was anxious to hear about Jake's reaction to everything. How would Jake handle the truth? Would he be angry when he saw him? Would he even want to see him?

Jason was pulled from his thoughts by a knock on the door. He immediately went and opened the door. He found Lucky and Elizabeth on the other side. "Hey. Come on in."

"Thanks," Lucky said as he and Elizabeth stepped inside. "Sorry to just come by like this, but we felt we all needed to sit down and talk."

"No, it's fine. You're right. We all need to talk. Actually, I'm glad you're here. It'll take my mind of the wait," Jason said.

"Wait?" Elizabeth asked.

"Yeah. Sam went to Robin and Patrick's to talk to Jake," Jason said.

"She already went to talk to him?" Elizabeth asked, sounding slightly upset.

"Well, we figured the sooner the better. The sooner Jake knows the truth, the sooner he can come home. Isn't that what you want?" Jason asked. He frankly had no idea why Elizabeth was so upset. He would've thought that she'd want to get this all done as soon as possible.

"She's upset because she wanted to amend what Sam was planning on telling Jake. Just so you know, I don't agree with it and I don't support it," Lucky told Jason.

"Lucky, how can you say that. Doesn't Jake's safety mean anything to you?" Elizabeth asked.

Jason sighed. Now he was getting a clearer picture of what was going on. Elizabeth had come to ask him yet again to stay away from Jake. She probably wanted Sam to lie to Jake about him. Well, that wasn't going to happen.

"Right, because he was so much safer with us," Lucky said sarcastically. '

"Did you not hear a word I said at the hospital? I am not walking away," Jason said firmly.

"I heard you, but you were in shock. Surely now you realize the danger that your life poses and how important it is to protect Jake from it," Elizabeth said. She was sure she could get Jason to see reason.

"And I will protect him from it. I'll just do it a different way," Jason said. He still had every intention of keeping his son safe from his business, just like he did with his other children, but he wouldn't walk away again.

"You mean like Michael?" Elizabeth asked.

"Elizabeth!" Lucky yelled.

Jason started to get angry. That had been a cheap shot and Elizabeth knew it. She knew how much he loved Michael and how much regret he had over how messed up his life got. He just couldn't believe she would use it against him now. "You're not going to manipulate me, Elizabeth. Jake is my son too and I'm not walking away from him."

"But the danger-"

"Danger? Danger is everywhere! We learned that the hard way when he was taken from us. My life didn't take him from us. A drunk driver and hospital mistake did. So don't sit there and pretend that my life is the only danger in the world!" Jason yelled.

"Jason's right. We asked him to give up his child because we thought it would be safer. We were wrong, Elizabeth. Being my son didn't make him any safer than he would've been with Jason. Hell, maybe it even made him less face. I mean, both his kids are fine," Jason pointed out.

"Lucky, no. What happened to Jake was no one's fault. What happened was random and senseless. That's how I know that keeping my distance from Jake was a mistake. You can't protect your children from everything. You just have to love them and hope things work out. And that's what I intend to do," Jason said firmly.

"And what if something happens to him?" Elizabeth asked.

Jason sighed exasperatedly. "Something already happened to him, Elizabeth. He was hit by a car and thought to be dead. That didn't happen because of me, Elizabeth. It happened because of Luke. No offense Lucky."

"No, you and I are in complete agreement, Jason. And if Elizabeth was honest with herself, she'd admit that this isn't about Jake's safety," Lucky said. While he was sure that Elizabeth cared about Jake's safety, he was also sure there was something deeper going on here.

"What are you talking about? Of course it is," Elizabeth said.

"Really? So this has nothing to do with Sam?" Lucky asked.

"Wait, what about Sam?" Jason demanded to know.

"Elizabeth doesn't like the fact that Jake is so close with Sam," Lucky said.

Jason narrowed his eyes at his ex. "Is that right?"

Before anyone had a chance to respond, the front door opened. Jason turned and saw his wife.

"Hey. I didn't know you'd all be here," Sam said. She was hoping for just a meeting between Jake and Jason. She figured it would easier that way. But on the other hand, maybe it was best to get all the introductions done at once.

"How did it go?" Jason asked, anxious to hear about his son.

"Well, why don't you see for yourself," Sam said smiling and turning towards the door. She then motioned with her hand for Jake to come inside.

Jason's heart nearly jumped out of his chest as he watched a young boy who looked exactly like him come into the room. He could hardly believe this was happening. After eight years, he was finally with his son again.

Sam placed her hands on Jake's shoulders. "Jake, you remember Lucky, right?"

Jake nodded as he looked at the cop he'd met at the police station.

"Hi, Jake. It's good to see you again," Lucky said. It took everything he had not to go over and take the boy into his arms. God how he missed holding Jake. He knew it would be a mistake though. Jake didn't know him. He didn't want some stranger grabbing ahold of him.

"The woman next to him is Elizabeth," Sam said.

Elizabeth smiled. "Hi, sweetheart.

"Hi," Jake greeted back shyly. It was weird because he'd never really been shy before. He really couldn't afford to be with all the new people he'd met over the years. This was different though. This was his family and he was meeting them for the first time.

Sam steered Jake over to Jason. "This is Jason."

Jake took in Jason's features. It was quite clear that the man was his father. They looked exactly alike, right down to the eyes. "Hi."

"Hi, Jake. It's good to finally meet you," Jason said as he held out his hand.

Jake looked at Jason's hand for a minute before shaking it briefly. "Sam says you're my dad."

"Yeah, I am. So is Lucky," Jason said. While he wanted to have a relationship with Jake, he also wanted to respect Lucky's place as well. He had been a father to Jake for four years. That had to be honored.

"And I'm your mother," Elizabeth said.

Jake nodded not knowing what else to do. He looked around the room and caught a picture on the mantle. It was of a blond haired little boy. He immediately went over to it. "Is this me?"

"Um, no, actually that's your brother, Daniel. I do have a picture of you if you want to see it though," Jason said.

"I have a brother?"

"Three actually, and a sister," Lucky answered. "Elizabeth and I have two other boys and Sam Jason have two children as well."

"Hey, we can take you to meet Cam and Aiden if you want," Elizabeth said.

"I don't think that's a good idea right now," Sam said. Jake had already been through enough for one day with just meeting his parents. He needed time before any other introductions were made.

"I didn't ask what you thought," Elizabeth snapped.

"Elizabeth!" Lucky whispered harshly. He didn't want Jake to pick up on her hostility.

It was too late. "Why are you mad at Sam?" Jake asked.

"It's nothing, sweetheart. Just adult things," Elizabeth said.

Jake frowned. He hated it when people told him things like that. It just so patronizing. He wasn't some little kid who couldn't handle the truth. "Sam?"

"We just don't get along too well. We never have, but I for one would like to try to make a better effort," Sam said honestly. She wasn't going to lie to Jake or insult his intelligence like Elizabeth had just done. She knew Jake well enough to know that he would not accept the answer Elizabeth had just given him.

Jake nodded, clearly more satisfied with the answer he'd been given. He then started walking around the apartment some more. "You have a pool table in the living room?"

Sam chuckled. "That's Jason's. He loves to shoot pool."

"Will you teach me to play sometime?" Jake asked him.

"Yeah, sure. I'd love to," Jason said. His face was threatening to break out in smile.

"So what do you like to do, Jake? You play any sports?" Lucky asked.

"Basketball. I only play for fun though. I'm not on a team or anything," Jake said.

Lucky nodded. "Hey, I've played a little. Maybe we can play together sometime."

"That'd be cool," Jake said. "So you don't all live here, do you?"

Sam, Lucky, and Jason chuckled. "No, we don't. Jason and I live here with our kids. Lucky and Elizabeth have their own places across town."

"So where will I live?" Jake asked. He assumed that eventually the idea was to move him out of Robin and Patrick's and in with one of his parents. He honestly hoped it would be with Jason and Sam. At least then he would be around someone he knew fairly well.

Elizabeth opened her mouth to speak, but Lucky answered before she had a chance. ""We'll work all that stuff out later. Today we're just really happy that you're here with us."

"Unfortunately, I have to get him back," Sam said.

Everyone's faces got long, but the cases of Jason and Lucky, they understood. "Okay, well, it was good to see you, Jake. We'll see you again soon."

Jake nodded and went back over to Sam.

"I'll be back soon," Sam told Jason before leading Jake out of the apartment.


	13. Chapter 13

Jason opened the door to find his mother and children on the other side. Emily and Daniel both launched themselves into his arms yelling, "Daddy, Daddy!"

Monica came in and closed the door behind her.

"Hey, you two. Did you have a good time?" Jason asked them.

"Yeah! We had ice cream!" Emily said excitedly.

"And Cookies," Daniel added.

"And Grandpa Edward let us stay up really, really late."

Jason wasn't surprised to hear it. The Quartermaines spoiled his kids rotten. Hell, all of their relatives did. "Well, I hope you said thank you."

"We did, Daddy. Where's Mommy? We wanna tell her too," Emily said.

"She went out for a little while. She'll be home soon. Why don't you guys go take your stuff up to your rooms and play with your toys while I talk to your grandma?"

"Okay," Emily said before taking her brother's hand and running upstairs with him.

"Thanks for taking them last night," Jason said appreciatively.

"Are you kidding? We love having them around. I must say I was surprised though. I can count on both hands how often you ask us to keep the children overnight," Monica said. Jason's relationship with had gotten much better over the years, but he still appeared wary with them, especially where his children were concerned.

"Yeah, well, something came up yesterday," Jason said.

Monica began to get nervous. "Who got hurt? Is it Sam?"

"No, no one got hurt. Actually, it's a good thing. It was just really overwhelming and Sam and I needed some time to deal with it,"

"What is it? No, you know what, you don't have to tell me," Monica said.

"No, you deserve to know. It affects you too. It's about Jake. I found out yesterday that things didn't exactly happen the way we thought it did the car of the accident," Jason told her.

"What do you mean? Did you find out that it wasn't Luke who hit Jake or something?" Monica asked.

"No, nothing like that. The accident itself happened exactly the way we thought, but things got complicated once he got to the hospital. There was some kind of mix-up. There was another boy there and Jake got mistaken for him," Jason explained.

"What do you mean?" Monica asked, still very confused.

"I mean that the kid that died on Patrick's operating table was not Jake," he said.

"What?" Monica asked in shock. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. How could that happen? Wait, if Jake wasn't the boy declared dead, did that mean...? "Jason, are you saying that Jake isn't dead?"

"Yeah, that's what I'm saying. Apparently, Jake was so badly injured that he couldn't be identified by looks alone. That's how the mix-up started. We're guessing that the files got mixed up or something. Jake was in Matt Hunter's OR instead of Patrick's. Jake survived the surgery while the other boy did not," Jason said.

"But because no one realized that there had been a mistake, you and Elizabeth were told that your son was dead. That's awful. Jason, I'm so sorry. But how did it go on for so long. Eventually Jake's injuries would've been healed. He would've been recognized by anyone on staff," Monica said.

"He was transferred to Mercy the next day. The other kid was abandoned at the hospital, so no one had any way of knowing who he was," Jason said

"How did you find out about this?" Monica asked in bewilderment.

"Sam. A young boy went to see Sam about finding his parents. It was Jake. Apparently he was put into foster care right after the accident. He's been bouncing around from home to home ever since," Jason said sadly. He hated that his son had to go through that. No kid deserved that. Jake deserved to grow up in a loving home knowing how much he meant to those around him.

"Oh, that's awful. But he's back now, right? Is he home with Elizabeth?" Monica asked.

"No, he's still in Foster Care right now. He's staying with Robin and Patrick," Jason told her.

"I heard they had taken in a child. It's Jake?"

Jason nodded.

"So what happens now? Have you seen him?" Monica wondered.

"Yeah. He was just here actually. Sam introduced him to me, Elizabeth, and Lucky," he said.

"How did that go?" Monica asked.

"It was okay. I mean, he's far from comfortable around us, but as far as first meetings go, it went well. It was amazing to see him. I never thought I'd see him again," Jason said. It still felt so surreal to actually know that his son was alive and to be with him.

Monica smiled. "I'm so happy for you, Jason. You're going to be a part of his life, right?"

"Yes. Whether Elizabeth likes it or not."

"The way you so that makes me think she doesn't like it," Monica said.

"No, she doesn't. She's already trying to convince me to walk away again. She says that Jake isn't safe with me," he said.

Monica shook her head in disbelief. "Unbelievable. Doesn't she realize that danger is everywhere? Look at what has already happened to Jake. That wasn't because of the mob or anything else related to you."

"Lucky and I tried to tell her that, but she won't listen. Lucky thinks that she's only arguing because she resents Sam's place in Jake's life. Jake trusts Sam. He looks to her when he needs help. Elizabeth doesn't like that," Jason said.

"So this is going to turn into a fight?" Monica asked.

"I really hope not. We can't afford to be fighting each other right now. We should be focusing on Jake and getting him home," Jason said.

"Yes, how are you going to do that?" Monica asked.

"I talked to Diane right before you got here. She says that the first thing we need to do is a court ordered paternity test. Now a test was already conducted, but it was under less than desirable circumstances. We have to do another one. Once that's done, we have to go through the courts and Social Services. Because he's been away from us for so long, Diane thinks that they're going to want to transition Jake to us little by little," Jason explained.

"Where will he be living when the time comes?" Monica asked.

Jason sighed. "I'm trying not to think about that right now. I just want to take it one step at a time."

Monica was about to say something when her pager went off. She immediately took it out. "It's the hospital. I have to go, but if you need me, just call."

"I will. Thanks," Jason said.

Monica smiled at her son and then walked out the door.


	14. Chapter 14

A few days later, Jason and Sam found themselves at Patrick and Robin's front door. They, as well as Robin, Patrick, Lucky, and Elizabeth were meeting with Jake's social worker to determine where they went from here.

"You ready for this?" Sam asked.

Jason nodded and rang the doorbell.

The door was opened a second later by Robin. "Hey, guys, come one in. Everyone else is already here."

Jason and Sam immediately followed her inside. Patrick, Elizabeth, Lucky, and a woman they assumed was the social worker were waiting.

"Mrs. Haden, this is Jason and Sam Morgan," Robin introduced.

"Hello," Mrs. Haden said as she shook both of their hands. "Well, why don't we all sit down?"

They all took seats on the couch and in some chairs that had been brought out.

"Now before we get into everything, I would like to inquire as to how Jake has been doing while living with the Drake's," Mrs. Haden said.

"He's been doing well. We haven't had any real complaints so far," Patrick said.

"Really? I must say I'm surprised to hear that. Every other foster home he's been in has not ended well," Mrs. Haden said.

"Well, actually, think we all owe Sam for how well Jake has been adjusting. He's quite fond of her and I think her influence has done a number on him," Robin said.

"Yes, you were the one that discovered the connection between Jake and your husband, isn't that right, Mrs. Morgan?"

"Yes. Jake came to me awhile back and asked for my help. He wanted me to help find his biological parents," Sam explained.

"Mrs. Morgan, I have to ask you, do you make a habit of searching for the parents of minors in the system?" Mrs. Haden asked.

"Of course not. I just knew when I met Jake that something wasn't right. I recognized something in him and I felt I needed to help," Sam said.

"What Sam did brought Jake back to us. You can't really mean to crucify her for that," Jason said. There was no way he was going to sit here while some stranger judged Sam for helping his son.

"That's not my intention, Mr. Morgan, but you must understand that there are protocols when it comes for children in the system."

"Does it really matter at this point? I frankly don't care what protocols Sam broke. She brought Jake home. That's all the matters," Lucky said.

"Of course you're right. I'll just ask you to exercise caution in the future, Mrs. Morgan. The next time it might not end like this," Mrs. Haden warned.

Sam nodded.

"Now, I hear that Jake already knows who his parents are and how he was separated from them. I must say that I wish you had waited in telling him until talking to me. It could've gone badly," she said.

"But it didn't. Jake was fine," Jason said tightly.

"Still, there's a process to things like this. I should've been present, as should a qualified psychologist," Mrs. Haden said.

Jason wanted to say something, but decided against it. Anything he would say would probably just agitate the woman and that would just make things worse.

"Well, he knows now and he's okay. Can we just talk about what happens next?" Lucky asked.

"Of course. I know you are all very anxious for Jake to come home, but I'm afraid it's not going to happen as soon as you'd like. Jake needs time to adjust and get used to all of you before that happens. He's also going to need to speak with a psychologist," Mrs. Haden explained.

"Jake's not going to want to talk to a shrink," Sam said. She knew the boy well enough to know that Jake was going to loath the idea of a shrink just as much as his father did.

"I'm afraid he doesn't have a choice. This is part of the process he's going to have to go through."

"You're gonna force him to sit down with some stranger and talk to him about personal things that are no one else's business?" Jason asked irritably. He was beginning to really dislike this woman and the 'process'. Jake was not some little kid. He was old enough to decide for himself how he wanted to handle this situation.

"Mr. Morgan, I understand that you may not like the idea of seeking outside help, but..."

"I have no problem with outside help if it's necessary, but it's not. Jake is coping fine with things. If he doesn't to talk to some stranger, he shouldn't have to," Jason said.

"Jake is a child and he is dealing with something that few adults could handle. He doesn't fully understand the psychological damage that it will cause him if he doesn't deal with it now," she said.

Jason felt like shaking the woman. She reminded him of the doctors that he was forced to talk to after his accident. They all acted like they knew what was best for him more than he did. There was nothing he hated more than that. They didn't have the right to decide for him and this woman didn't have the right to decide for Jake."

"Okay, so after all of this is said and done, Jake can come home?" Elizabeth asked.

"Yes, but that's all going to take quite some time. In the meantime, where Jake is going to live needs to be addressed," Mrs. Haden said.

"Well, he'll live with me of course," Elizabeth said as though it were obvious.

"Hold on, Elizabeth, it's not that simple. You can't just decide that Jake's going to live with you," Lucky said.

"So you want him to live with you? You work all the time, Lucky. I mean, you're a great father and all, but you can't give Jake the attention he needs twenty-four/seven," Elizabeth said.

"First of all, you work too, Elizabeth. We all do, but that's not the point. I would love for Jake to live with me, but I think it should be u to him where he wants to live. He's not four-years-old anymore. He should have a say in where he lives," Lucky said.

"I agree," Jason said. While he would really like it if Jake lived with him he would do whatever Jake wanted.

"The court will as well. In the court's eyes, Jake is old enough to decide who he wants to live with. As long as it is a safe and nurturing environment, the decision will be up to him. It's important that you all accept that. Jake is going to have enough issues adjusting without there being discord between his parents," Mrs. Haden explained.

"So you're saying I have no say in my own son's life?" Elizabeth asked.

"No one is saying that, Elizabeth. We're all just saying that Jake should have a say too. Don't you want Jake to be happy?" Lucky asked.

"Of course I want him to be happy. He will be happy with me, Cam, and Aiden. And of course you'll be around," Elizabeth said.

"And what about Jason and his other siblings. What you just want to cut them out?" Sam asked.

"Now no one is saying that," Mrs. Haden asked in an attempt to diffuse the situation.

"Actually that's exactly what she's saying and it's not the first time she's said it either," Jason said as he glared at Elizabeth.

Mrs. Haden turned to Elizabeth. "Is that true, Ms. Webber?"

"Jason's life is too dangerous for Jake. It's too dangerous for any child," Elizabeth said.

"Hold on. Correct me if I'm wrong, Mr. and Mrs. Morgan, but don't you have two other children?"

Sam nodded. "Yes, we do and they have been perfectly safe all their lives."

"And what about Michael?" Elizabeth questioned.

"Who's Michael?" Mrs. Haden asked.

"He's Jason's nephew. There was an incident about eleven years ago and he was shot due to his father's negligence. I fail to see how that has anything to do with our children or Jake's safety. We have never taken such chances with our kids," Sam said.

"I agree. You can't be held accountable for another parent's faults. Now I understand there are a lot of issues between all of you, but you're going to need to put them aside for the sake of your son. If you can't do it amongst yourselves, I would be happy to recommend a mediator," she said.

"That won't be necessary. We'll figure it out," Lucky promised.

"Well, alright then," Mrs. Haden said before standing up. "I think that's enough for today. I will be in touch so that we can all talk some more."

They all shook the social worker's hand and watched as she left.

"I think we're going to go too. I think we've just about as much as we can handle," Sam said. She knew Jason certainly had. Some of the things that social worker said combined with Elizabeth's manipulations was making him very frustrated.

"I'll call you later in the week to see if we can all just sit down and try to figure things out," Lucky said.

Jason and Sam nodded, said their goodbyes to Patrick and Robin, and then left.


	15. Chapter 15

Jason made his way through Sonny's front door and towards the living room. He figured it was about time he filled Sonny in on everything that had been going on lately with Jake.

Sonny was just pouring himself a drink when Jason walked in. "Hey. I haven't seen you in a while."

"Yeah, things have been a bit complicated lately," Jason said.

"Sam and the kids okay?" Sonny asked with concern.

"Yeah, they're fine. We've just been dealing with something. I'm not even sure how to tell you it's so unbelievable," Jason said.

"Good unbelievable or bad unbelievable?" Sonny asked.

Jason smiled a rare smile. "Good. Definitely good."

"Sam pregnant?" Sonny asked.

"No, but I do have another kid," Jason said.

"Huh?" Sonny asked in confusion.

"It's Jake. He's alive," Jason said.

Sonny regarded his friend cautiously. "Jason, are you feeling okay."

"I haven't lost it, Sonny. Jake is alive. I've seen him myself," Jason said. He wasn't surprised that Sonny was questioning his sanity. It was a pretty out there story. He probably wouldn't have believed it either if he hadn't heard it from Sam. DNA evidence or not, he only really believed it when it was first told to him because Sam was the one telling him.

"Jason, Jake died. His kidney is inside Josslyn," Sonny said carefully. He didn't know where this was coming from, but he knew it had to be wrong. It was impossible for Jake to be alive.

"No, it's not. Josslyn got a kidney, but it wasn't Jake's. There was some kind of mx-up at the hospital. Two kids were brought in that night with severe head trauma. Because there was so much facial damage, it was hard to tell the two boys apart," Jason explained.

"You telling me there was a switch?" Sonny asked in shock.

"Yeah. The other boy was switched with Jake. He was the one that died, not Jake. And because Jake was transferred to another hospital right after it happened, no one knew," Jason said.

"What about the other kid's family. They would've had to have known after he got better," Sonny said.

"He didn't have any family. They think he got his injuries from abuse and just abandoned him at General Hospital," Jason said.

Sonny cringed. That hit a little too closed to home for his liking. That could've been him. There were several times as a child that he wondered if his stepfather would go too far and kill him one day. It could've easily happened. "So what happened to Jake after he got out of the hospital?"

"He basically took on this other kid's identity. What would've happened to him happened to Jake instead. He was put in the system," Jason replied.

"Oh, Jason, I'm so sorry," Jason said. He couldn't even imagine what his friend was going through.

Jason shook his head. "No, don't feel sorry for me. My son is alive. I can finally let go of the pain I've been carrying around with me for eight years."

"And you're sure it's him? You're sure it's Jake?" Sonny asked.

"Yeah, we ran a DNA test to be sure. He's my son," Jason said.

Sonny went to sit down on the couch and motioned for Jason to do the same. "So where's Jake now?"

"With Robin and Patrick. He's gonna stay with them until Jake is ready to come home?" Jason said.

"And what's this mean for you?" Sonny asked. It was a fair question. Jason hadn't been in Jake's life even before the accident. Would that remain the same or would Jason finally assert his parental rights over the boy?

"I'm not walking away if that's what you mean. No, what happened all those years ago opened my eyes. Not having me in his life didn't keep him safe. It didn't stop Luke from getting drunk and hitting him with his car," Jason said.

"No, it didn't. You're doing the right thing," Sonny said.

"Yeah, well, some people don't agree with you," Jason said bitterly.

"Not Sam," Sonny said. He had a hard time believing that Sam would have a problem with Jason being in his son's life, but if not Sam, who was Jason referring to?

"No, of course not. In fact, she's closer to him than any of us. She's the one that figured this all out. She's spent a lot of time with him and he trusts her. The problem is Elizabeth. She wants to forget everything that happened and have things go back to the way they were. Where Jake didn't know me or Sam," Jason said.

"But doesn't she realize that you being away from Jake isn't going to protect him?" Sonny asked.

"I don't think she cares. I don't think this is about his protection. It's about the fact that Jake depends on Sam. She hates that," Jason said. Just then his phone started ringing. He immediately took it out. He saw that it was Sam and immediately answered it. "Hey."

"_Hey. Can you come down to the hospital?" Sam asked._

"Why, what's up? Is everything okay?" Jason asked in concern. People didn't generally tell him to come to the hospital unless something was wrong.

"_Yes and no. No one's hurt. Robin called me. Today was supposed to be Jake's first session with the therapist and refuses to go. He's in Robin's office and he refuses to come out,"_ Sam said.

"What? How come they didn't call us earlier?" Jason asked. If he'd known that this was happening today, he would've already been there.

"_They told Elizabeth. Apparently she 'forgot' to tell us." _The tone in Sam's voice made it clear that she didn't believe there was any forgetting involved.

"I'm on my way," Jason said before hanging up.

"Everything okay?" Sonny asked.

Jason sighed and stood up. "Jake was supposed to see a shrink today and is apparently not very happy about it."

"Well, I can't really blame him there," Sonny said.'

"Neither can I, but there's no choice. This is the only way to get him home. I gotta go," he said.

"Keep me posted," Sonny said.

"I will," Jason said before rushing out the door.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Jason made his way to Robin's office and found her, Elizabeth and Lucky right outside. He glared at Elizabeth. "Thanks for the head's up."

"I'm sorry, Jason. She said she'd told you," Lucky said apologetically.

"I'm sorry too. I should've called you myself," Robin said.

"It's not your fault," Jason assured her. Elizabeth was the one he was pissed at. She was the one that kept the information to herself. "Where's Sam?"

"In with Jake. I don't think she's having much luck though," Robin said.

"Well, of course not. She's not his mother. I'm the one that should be in there," Elizabeth said.

"Actually, I think Jason is his best bet. He understands what Jake is feeling right now," Robin said. She remembered how reluctant Jason was to see a shrink. Jake's refusal to do the same reminded her a lot of it. Sam had been right when she'd predicted his reaction.

Jason nodded and immediately walked inside. He heard Jake's loud voice as soon as the door opened.

"No, I don't care! I'm not seeing some stupid shrink!" Jake all but yelled.

"Jake," Jason called gently.

Jake turned to look at him. "I won't do it. You can't make me."

"You know I had to see a shrink once. I hated it just as much as you do now," Jason told his son.

Jake rolled his eyes. "Let me guess. This is where you tell me that the shrink taught you something." All adults said stuff like that. It was a crock as far as he was concerned. It was something people said to kids to get them to do what they wanted.

"Yeah, he taught me to hate shrinks," Jason deadpanned.

Jake couldn't help but crack a small smile. "Okay, that's the weirdest way I've ever heard of someone trying to get someone else to do something they don't want to."

"I'm not going to lie to you, Jake. I hate shrinks. I think they're a waste of time. For me anyway, and probably for you. I don't think this doctor is going to help you any," Jason said honestly.

"Well, then why are you trying to make me see him?" Jake asked.

"It's not my choice. Sometimes we have just have to do things we don't want to," Jason said.

"What do you mean it's not your choice? You're my dad, right?" Jake asked.

"Yeah, but right now you're still under the state's guardianship. They decide for you right now. And this is just something we have to get through in order to get you out of the system," Jason told him.

"So you're saying that I should do this to make them happy? Pretend that the crazy doctor is helping me so that we don't have to deal with them anymore?" Jake asked. That was what he was taking away from the conversation anyway. He had say his dad was the weirdest adult he'd ever met. Weird in a good way though.

"Yeah, pretty much," Jason said.

"Okay," Jake said. That he could work with. He could pretend everything was great to appease the idiots at social services. He wasn't sure why he hadn't just done that in first place. He supposed he was just so pissed at the thought that everyone believed he was crazy that he hadn't thought of it.

"Okay, let's go," Sam said.

Jake immediately headed out the door. Jason and Sam followed.

"You know you're not supposed to say stuff like that, right?" Sam whispered to Jason. Her tone was slightly amused. She personally didn't have a problem with it because she knew Jake didn't need a shrink. Still, only Jason would come up with something like that.

"Whatever works," Jason said as they followed Jake out of the office.


	16. Chapter 16

Everyone waited outside the door to the Shrink's office while Jake was having his session. It was about an hour before the doors opened and Jake stepped out.

"Well, thanks for talking with me, Jake," the shrink said.

"Sure, whatever," Jake said dismissively.

The shrink looked at all the adults. "Hi. I'm doctor Jerek. Why don't you all come in so we can talk?"

"What about Jake? He shouldn't be left out here alone," Elizabeth said.

Jake glared at her. "I'm twelve. I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself. I've been doing it my whole life."

"He's right, he'll be fine," Sam said before narrowing her eyes at the young boy half-jokingly. "Just don't go anywhere."

Jake gave her a slight smile. "I wasn't gonna."

"Uh huh," Sam said before leading the way into the office.

"Have a seat, everyone," the doctor said once everyone was inside. He then brought over a few extra chairs.

Jason, Sam, and Robin sat on the couch while Patrick sat on the arm of the couch next to Robin. Lucky and Elizabeth sat down in a couple of chairs.

Doctor Jerek sat on top of his desk. "Okay. Now I asked you all in here because in one form or another, you're all a part of Jake's life. Whether it be as parents, step parents, or foster parents. You all care about Jake and want what's best for him. Or at least I hope you do."

They all nodded.

"I'm also sure that you all have different views on what is best for him," he continued.

"Oh, you can say that again," Sam said as she glanced at Elizabeth.

"Yes, I figured. My role in this is quite simple. It's not just to help Jake adjust to the changes to his life, but you all as well. You may think that things will be simple for you now that Jake is back in your lives, but you'd be wrong. Your lives were dramatically altered by Jake's departure," Doctor Jerek said.

"His departure? You say that like he went on an eight year vacation," Elizabeth said.

For the first time since Jake was found, Jason found himself agreeing with Elizabeth. "Yeah, and we don't need to tell us how his disappearance affected us. We know that very well."

"Believe me, I understand, Mr. Morgan…"

"Do you?" Lucky asked irritably. He too was getting annoyed by the shrink's words. He knew the man was trained to say it, but he didn't have a clue of what it meant to lose Jake. He didn't have to hear those two Jason spoke to Lucky, sending him into a never ending black hole. 'He's gone'. Those had been the words. And the shrink didn't have to watch Jake die like Jason did or live with the crushing guilt of not being able to stop the accident like Elizabeth did. "Until you have someone tell you that your child is dead, you won't have a clue!"

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset anyone. I just want you all to be aware that there will be adjustments to be made on everyone's part," the doctor said.

"We know that," Sam said.

"Good. Now I understand that there is some hostility among some of you. It's important that that disappear very quickly. This cannot become a tug of war or Jake's going to feel the impact of it. You all have to find a way to coexist for the sake of your son," Doctor Jerek said.

"You don't have to tell us that," Sam said, indicating herself and Jason. They both understood the point the doctor was trying to make. They knew that their issues all had to be pushed aside. The problem was that Elizabeth couldn't seem to grasp it.

Elizabeth glared at Sam. "Is that supposed to be directed towards us?"

"No. It's directed towards you," Sam said. She wanted no mistake made about it. She had no problem with Lucky. He had gone out of his way to work with them and accept the fact that they would be in Jake's life for the duration. It was Elizabeth that wouldn't accept that.

"I'm doing what's right for my son," Elizabeth said.

"You're doing what's best for you. You're actually gonna sit here and say it was best for Jake to keep us in the dark about his therapy session?" Jason asked.

"Is that true, Ms. Webber. Did you hide this appointment from them?" Doctor Jerek asked.

'I just figured they had better things to do. They have two other children to take care of," Elizabeth said.

"So do you. That didn't stop you from being here," Sam countered.

"I'm his mother!" Elizabeth practically yelled.

"And Jason's his father!" Sam yelled back.

"Okay, let's all calm down," the doctor said before turning to Elizabeth. "Ms. Webber, you really need to quash this open hostility you have with the Morgan's. They are in your son's life too and if this continues, Jake will sense it and he will start to resent you for it."

"He already does," Robin spoke. "I'm sorry Elizabeth, but Jake felt the bitterness you hold towards Sam during that first visit you had and it did not impress him. I know you have your issues with Sam, but Jake knows her. He trusts her."

"Doctor Scorpio-Drake is right. Your son is deeply attached to Mrs. Morgan. In fact, he has expressed desire to live with her, not his father, her," He said.

"What?!" Elizabeth asked in shock and horror. This could not be happening. Sam could not be stealing her son away from her. She was his mother, not Sam. He belonged with her.

Sam too was quite surprised. She had no idea that Jake preferred to live with her. She figured if he chose to live with them, it would be because he wanted to live with Jason. She never considered that she would be the deciding factor. Though being as she was the only one out of all of them Jake actually knew, she probably shouldn't be so surprised.

"Is that what's going to happen? Is Jake going to live with Jason and Sam?" Lucky asked.

"No!" Elizabeth exclaimed.

"The final decision isn't up to me, however, I will be asked for my recommendation, and under the circumstances, I'd have to say that his best interests lie with his father and stepmother," Doctor Jerek said.

Elizabeth stood up and glared angrily. "My son will live with them over my dead body," she said before storming out.

Lucky stood up as well and looked at Sam and Jason. "I want what's best for Jake. If that's the two of you, so be it."

"If we get custody, it's just a formality, Lucky. You're just as much Jake's father as I am," Jason told him.

Doctor Jerek smiled. "Now this is the kind of attitude I like to see. It's best for Jake that you all get along."

"I'll try to talk to Elizabeth again," Lucky said.

Sam turned to Doctor Jerek. "We wanna introduce Jake to our other children."

"I think that's a good idea, especially if he does end up living with you. I'm going to make the recommendation to Children Services that Jake start to become integrated into all of your lives," the doctor said.

Jason and Sam stood up. "Thank you," Jason said before they headed for the door. Robin and Patrick followed.


	17. Chapter 17

A couple of days later, Jason opened the door to find AJ there with his kids. AJ had returned several years ago. It had turned out that Monica had been hiding him so that he wouldn't go to prison.

Jason was pissed at first when he realized what Monica had done. AJ had almost destroyed Michael's life and he'd shot Alan in the back. But after a while, it became apparent that AJ had changed. He no longer had payback on the mind and he wasn't so angry anymore. And the truth was, Jason knew that he wasn't innocent in what became of AJ back then. He'd taken his son away, something he had no right to do.

He and AJ still were not best friends. Neither seemed to fully be able to forgive the other, but they tolerated each other. Jason could be civil with AJ because Michael and his own children loved him. Michael had decided after hearing the whole story that he wanted to have a relationship with his biological father. Jason respected that choice. Hell, now he was grateful for it because it pulled Michael away from the mob influence.

Jason's thoughts were interrupted by his kids latching on to him. "Daddy, Daddy!" they both squealed.

Jason bent down to their level and hugged them briefly. "Hey, guys. Did you have fun?"

"Uh huh. I played dress-up with Uncle AJ," Emily said happily.

Jason looked at AJ with an amused expression on his face. "Really."

AJ shook his head as he walked inside and closed the door. "She was very persuasive. I swear, she's the reincarnation of our sister."

"What's suasive mean? And what's carnation mean?" Emily asked innocently.

AJ and Jason both laughed. "It's not important, sweetie. You'll find out when you're older. So what else did you guys do?"

"Mikey came over and we played with my trucks!" Daniel said excitedly.

"They were boring, Daddy," Emily huffed.

Jason chuckled. "I'm sure they were."

"Where's Mommy?" Emily asked.

"She went out, but she'll be back soon and then we will all be having an important talk," Jason told them. It was time for them to sit the kids down and tell them about Jake. "So why don't you guys go play until she gets home."

"Okay," Emily said before taking her brother's hand and pulling him towards the stairs.

Jason stood up after his kids were gone. "Thanks for bringing them home. Monica have to work?"

"No, I just volunteered to drop them off. I wanted to talk to you. I've been trying to avoid this, but it doesn't seem possible," AJ said.

"You wanna talk about Jake. Honestly, I'm surprised you haven't been around with Elizabeth. Aren't the two of you dating this week?" Jason asked. AJ and Elizabeth had had an on-again, off-again relationship for years. In Jason's opinion it was very destructive and hurt Elizabeth's two boys. But it wasn't any of his business. Well, not until now away.

"Like I said, I have been doing my utmost to stay out of it. I mean, we're talking about my girlfriend and my brother. I don't want to take sides here," AJ said. Despite the fact that his relationship with Jason was shaky at best, he was still his brother. They still had loved ones in common. He didn't want to wreck the civil relationship they'd developed. He also didn't want to splash waves with Elizabeth. They had been getting along really well until all this started.

"I bet that's going over real well," Jason said sarcastically. He knew Elizabeth and he knew she would try to get AJ over to her side. She'd pull out all the stops to do so, maybe even use what Jason did with Michael to fuel AJ's bitterness.

"Yeah. I keep telling her to leave me out of it, but she keeps trying to drag me in. I just wanted to come over here and let you know that I'm not helping her with this. I honestly don't want any part of it," AJ said.

"AJ, you are a part of it. Even if you don't take sides, you're still gonna be a part of it. Not only are you Jake's family, but you're involved with his mother. You're gonna be in it. It's unavoidable. Unless you walk away," Jason said.

AJ huffed irritably. "Okay, I get this lecture from Mom and Michael all the time. I don't need it from you too."

"Yeah, I know. Believe me, I don't want to give you any lecture. I don't want any part of this toxic relationship you have with Elizabeth. If you've noticed, I haven't said a word to you about it. It was none of my business. But now it. My son is involved now."

"Right, but it was okay when you involve my son in things that weren't good for him," AJ said bitterly. He couldn't help it. A part of him would always be bitter towards Jason when it came to Michael.

Jason sighed. "Look, I don't wanna fight with you. Believe it or not, this isn't just about Jake. I'm trying to help you. Can you really stand here and tell me your relationship with Elizabeth isn't screwed up. She is just as destructive as you in her own way and I don't think you really need help when it comes to destruction."

"Hey, I've gotten my life together," AJ defended.

"Yeah, I'll give that. You have. You've made a good life for yourself, one your son can be and is proud of. But every time you involve yourself with Elizabeth and the drama that is her life, you run the risk of destroying it," Jason said.

"I didn't know you cared, little brother," AJ said snidely.

"Look, we both know we don't like each other much. We've both accepted that. But we are in each other's lives because of the people we both love. So for them, I'm trying to help you. Not to mention make the situation better so that my son isn't brought into it. Have you ever thought about what this crap does to Elizabeth's children? You care about Cameron and Aiden, right?" Jason asked.

"Of course I do," AJ said. He loved those boys like they were his own. They were a large part of the reasons he kept going back. "Look, I know that our weird relationship hurts the boys. Elizabeth started bringing that up as well."

"Really?" Jason asked sounding surprised. Elizabeth never admitted it when one of her relationships were messed up. Usually she just waited until someone knew came along.

"No, it's not what you think. She doesn't want us to break up. She's pushing for a proposal," AJ said unhappily. He cared about Elizabeth a lot but he didn't want to marry her. Also, he wasn't blind to her real motivations.

"When did that start?" Jason asked suspiciously. He got the feeling this was a plot by Elizabeth to somehow get custody of Jake. She probably thought getting married would help her case.

"A few weeks ago. Look, I know, okay? I know she just wants us married on paper so that she can get Jake. Which is why I told her no," AJ said. He meant what he said. He wanted no part of this fight. Marrying Elizabeth would put him smack dab in the middle.

"Good. It wouldn't help you get Jake. All it would do is trap you both in a marriage neither of you wants and put children through more pain than they're already going through. Look, I never thought I'd say this, but you deserve better than Elizabeth. You've gotten your life together. It doesn't appear that she ever will. Move on," Jason advised. If anyone had told him a few years ago that he would ever say any of this to AJ, he would've said they were crazy, but it was true. He wasn't all that fond of his brother, but he did have to commend him for the life he'd built for himself.

"Wow. Thanks. I think I'm going to leave now before one of us says something to ruin this moment," AJ said.

"Just think about what I said," Jason said.

"Uh huh," AJ mumbled before walking out the door and closing it behind him.


	18. Chapter 18

Sam walked into the penthouse to find Jason on the couch going through the mail. "Hey."

"Hey," Jason echoed as he put mail down on the coffee table.

Sam closed the door behind her and placed her purse on the desk. "The kids home?"

"Yeah, AJ brought them home about an hour ago," Jason told her.

"AJ? I thought your mom was bringing them home," Sam said as she went over to sit next to her husband.

"Well, AJ volunteered to do it instead. He wanted to talk to me about the situation with Elizabeth and Jake," Jason said.

"What took him so long? I would've thought he'd have been involved from the beginning," Sam said.

"He said he was trying to stay out of it. Said he didn't want to get involved in any way with Jake's custody. Unfortunately, Elizabeth's not giving him a choice.

Sam groaned. "Let me guess. She wants the two of them to play the perfect family for the court."

"Got it in one. She's pushing AJ to get married," Jason told her.

"Please tell me he had the good sense to say no," Sam said. Elizabeth and AJ getting married would be a disaster. It wouldn't do anything to help Elizabeth get Jake. All it would do was trap AJ in a loveless marriage and bring innocent children down with the two of them.

"He did. I don't think he wants to marry Elizabeth. I really don't think he loves her. Honestly, I think the only reason he keeps going back is for the boys," Jason said. AJ might not love Elizabeth, but he loved her boys unequivocally. He would do anything to remain in their lives, even return to a woman that made his life difficult.

"Okay, someone really needs to tell AJ to end this farce of a relationship. It's not going for anyone involved," Sam said.

"People have told him. Monica tells him all the time, so does Michael. Hell, I even told him today," Jason said.

"Really?" Sam asked in surprise. Jason tried not get involved in the affairs of others. He's always held the philosophy that people had the right to their own choices, even if they were dad ones.

"Well, Jake's going to be part of that family soon. Even if lives with us, he's still going to be around Elizabeth and whoever she chooses to be with. That means he's going to be mixed up in the drama that is her and AJ. And truthfully, I think AJ deserves better than Elizabeth," he explained.

"I agree. AJ has pulled his life together since he's returned. It's actually pretty stable when he's not with Elizabeth. Hell, he's even managed has semi civil relationship with Carly. Speaking of Carly, have you heard from her?" Sam asked. Carly was currently in Australia with Josslyn visiting Jax and his mother. They'd left just before they'd figured out who Jake really was. That was the only reason she hadn't barged through their door yet.

"She left me a message earlier. She's coming back next week," Jason said.

Sam sighed. "Well, it was nice while it lasted."

Jason chuckled at the comment.

Just then they heard small footsteps on the stairs followed by two loud voices. "Mommy!"

Sam turned just in time to have her children run into her arms. "Hey, you two. Did you have a good time?"

"Uh huh," Emily said as she pulled away. "I played dress-up with Uncle AJ."

"Uncle AJ played dress-up? Wow. That's something I would've paid to see," Sam said amused before pulling Daniel into her arms.

Jason did the same with Emily. "Okay, so we have something to talk about.

"Is it bad?" Emily asked.

"No, it's really good actually," Sam told her daughter. "You know how when we say our prayers, we say goodnight to all our family in Heaven?"

"Uh huh. Like Grandpa Alan and Auntie Emily and Uncle Danny," Emily said.

"Right and who else?" Sam asked.

"Brother and Sister," Daniel piped up.

"That's right," she told her son. She and Jason had told their children that they had a brother and sister. They'd said that Lila and Jake were in Heaven looking down on him.

"But it turns out that your brother, Jake, hasn't been in Heaven after all," Jason said.

"Where's he been then? Why isn't he with us?" Emily asked.

"There was a mistake, honey. You know how sometimes when they're far away sometimes people mistake Daddy and Uncle AJ. Well, that's what happened this time. Someone mixed up Jake with another little boy. That little boy's the one that went to Heaven," Sam explained.

"So where's Jakey?" Emily asked.

"Well, right now he's staying with Robin and Patrick until it can be decided where he'll live," Sam answered.

"Won't he live with us?" Emily asked.

"We're not sure yet. He might live with his mom," Jason said. While it was likely that Jake would come to live with them, he didn't want to tell his kids that until it was for sure.

"I hope he comes to live with us. We need another boy," three-year-old Daniel said in his most serious voice.

Sam and Jason smiled, both having a hard time not laughing.

"No, we don't. Boys are gross!" Emily said.

"Remember those words in ten years, sweetie," Jason said.

"I will, Daddy. But I want Jakey to live with us too. He's not a boy, he's a brother," Emily said.

Sam chuckled at her little girl.

"When do we get to see him?" Daniel asked.

"Tomorrow. When we wake tomorrow, Mommy's going to go get Jake while you guys get ready with Daddy," Sam told her children.

"Do you think he'll like us?" Emily asked.

"Oh, I'm sure he'll love you. He is much bigger than you though. He's a little older than Josslyn," Jason said.

"That's really big. Will he still want to play with us?" Daniel asked.

"I'm sure he'll play with you sometimes. Michael does, right?" Jason asked.

"Yeah, Mikey's fun. I hope Jakey is fun like him," Daniel said.

"I'm sure he will be. "Alright, it's almost time for dinner so why don't you guys go upstairs and get washed up?" Sam said.

"Okay," Emily said before sliding off of her father's lap and grabbing her brother's hand. They both then ran towards the stairs.


	19. Chapter 19

The next day, Sam arrived home with Jake and his social worker. The social worker insisted on joining them when she learned what they had planned. She said that she needed to be there in case Jake became overwhelmed. Sam of course thought that was excessive. Like she and Jason wouldn't be able tell if he got overwhelmed. Jake wasn't exactly quiet when he was upset.

Sam went to the door and started to open it, but she turned at the last moment to see that Jake had stopped a few feet away. "You ready?"

Jake looked at her unsure. He didn't know if he was ready. He thought he was ready, but now that this was actually happening, he wasn't sure. He didn't know how to act around siblings. He'd never had siblings before, unless you counted the other kids in his foster homes and he didn't.

"Are you alright, Jacob?" Mrs. Haden asked.

Jake glared at the woman. "For the millionth time, my name is Jake, not Jacob."

"May I?" Sam asked Mrs. Haden.

Mrs. Haden hesitated for a minute and then nodded.

Sam walked over to Jake. "What's up, kid?"

"I…It's just… What if they don't like me?" Jake asked. He hated the sound of his own voice right now. He hated sounding so vulnerable. He'd prided himself with being strong. He had to be in order to survive in the world that was foster care.

Sam chuckled a bit. "I can already promise you that they will love you. They already love you. They know who you are, Jake. They've known most of their lives. You were the big brother that they used to say goodnight to in Heaven every night. Now you're the big brother they can't wait to meet."

"I've never had siblings before," Jake said.

"Well, you have, you just don't remember. Anyway, these guys are easy. In fact, they'll want to be around you so much that you'll probably get sick of it after a while," Sam said with a smile.

Jake smiled back. "Okay."

"Okay?"

Jake nodded.

Sam went back over to the door, this time Jake and Mrs. Haden followed her. She opened the door and led the way inside.

Jason was on the couch with Emily and Daniel when they came in. He immediately got up and went over to them. "Hey, Jake.

"Hi, Dad," Jake said. He wanted to try the word out. He'd never gotten to call anyone 'dad' before, at least not that he could remember. It felt weird to say it now, but good at the same time.

Jason's heart just about leaped out his chest. He never thought he'd hear that word towards him from Jake. Even before the accident it didn't seem possible because Lucky had been the only father in his life. He couldn't even describe the feeling it gave him to hear it now.

"It's okay to call you that, right?" Jake asked.

Jason smiled at his son. "It is more than okay."

"Hey, guys, come over here," Sam called her children.

Emily and Daniel rushed over to their parents. Emily was dressed in a beautiful yellow flowered dress and Daniel was dressed in tan paint, a white button down shirt, and a black sweater vest.

Jason put his hands on his younger children's shoulders. "Jake, this is Emily and Daniel."

"Hi, Jakey, I'm Daniel," Daniel said as though his brother couldn't tell the difference between him and his sister for himself.

The older occupants of the room laughed.

"Hi, Daniel," Jake said before turning to Emily. "Hi."

"Hi," Emily said.

"So how old are you guys?" Jake asked.

"I'm six," Emily said proudly.

"I'm this many," Daniel said as he held up three fingers. "I'm a big boy now. You're bigger though. But not as big as Mikey."

"Who's Mikey?" Jake wondered.

"Uh, it's Michael. He's my nephew, your cousin," Jason told him.

"He's so cool. He goes to work with Uncle AJ and wears a suit," Daniel said beaming.

"As you can probably tell, Daniel idolizes Michael. He's a good guy. You'll meet him soon and I'm sure you'll get along great," Sam said.

"I have trucks. Do you wanna play with me?" Daniel asked.

"Trucks are boring. We should color instead," Emily said while glaring a little at her younger brother.

"We can do both, can't we? We can play trucks and then color," Jake said. Neither activity was exactly his thing, but he did want to spend time with Emily and Daniel and this was probably the best way.

"Okay," Daniel said before grabbing Jake's hand and dragging him towards the living room.

Just then there was a knock at the door.

"Are you expecting anyone?" Mrs. Haden asked Sam and Jason.

Jason shook his head no and then went to open the door. He opened it to find Elizabeth there with her son, Cameron. "Elizabeth, what are you doing here?"

Elizabeth gave him a fake smile. "Hi, Jason. I know this is the day you're introducing Jake to your children and I don't mean to intrude, but Cameron really wants to see his brother and I didn't have the heart to tell him no."

Jason glared at her. He seriously doubted she didn't mean to intrude. In fact, he was sure the orchestrated this. Oh, he was Cameron wanted to see his brother, but he was also sure that his mother had put the idea in his head to come today.

It wasn't that Jason was trying to keep Elizabeth away. He wasn't It was just that they were trying not to overwhelm the kid. That was the one thing he agreed with the shrink and the social worker on. Jake didn't need to feel any more pressured than he already did. That was why they were going to set up a separate meeting for just Elizabeth, Lucky, and their children. That made it so they all got to spend the same amount of time with Jake as well. It was fair. Unfortunately, Elizabeth didn't want to adhere to that agreement.

Cameron stepped forward a little. "Please.

Jason sighed. He couldn't say no to Cameron. It wasn't his fault that his mother was using him, and he deserved to see his brother. Cameron was actually the only one of Jake's siblings that remembered him. He was the only one of the kids that was profoundly affected by his disappearance. "Yeah, of course, Cameron. Come on in."

Elizabeth and Cameron stepped inside.

"What's going on?" Mrs. Haden asked when she saw the newcomers.

"I couldn't say no. Jake," Jason called.

Jake looked up from his place on the floor.

"Come here for a minute," Jason said.

Jake got up and made his way over to his father.

Elizabeth smiled at Jake. "Hi, sweetheart."

"Hi," Jake greeted.

"Jake, this is your brother, Cameron. He wanted to come over and say hi," Jason said.

Jake locked eyes with dark haired older boy. "Hi."

"Hey, Jake. It's good to see you again," Cameron said as he held his hand out.

Jake took the boy's hand and shook it. "I wish I could say the same, but I don't really remember seeing you in the first place."

"Yeah, I kind of figured. It's okay. I don't remember a lot from when I was four either. Maybe we can just start from over and get to know each other all over again. We can just forget about the years you don't remember. I doubt you're how you were back then anyway. I know I'm not," Cameron said.

"Yeah, that'd be cool," Jake said. He'd always wondered what it would be like to have an older brother. Now he had one.

"Jakey, come play," Daniel called from the living room floor.

"I told them I'd play with them. You wanna come too?" Jake asked.

"Well, Jake, Cameron's a little for that. Maybe you'd like to come out with us instead. You and Cameron will probably have more in common," Elizabeth said.

"Ms. Webber," Mrs. Haden warned.

"No, Mom, it's okay. I don't mind playing with Daniel and Emily. I've done it before when I was with AJ. I like it sometimes. And if Jake wants to hang out with his younger siblings, that's fine with me," Cameron said. He wasn't sure what his mother's problem was, but he wanted no part of it. All he wanted was to hang out with the brother he thought was dead for so long. He didn't care what they did.

"Come on," Jake said before leading the way back to his brother and sister.


	20. Chapter 20

Jake was sitting in the living room with Robin, Patrick, and his social worker. He was not happy. He was waiting for his mother, other father, and his two brothers. He was upset because he was told Sam couldn't be there, something he really wanted.

Jake didn't really have a problem with Lucky. The cop was cool and seemed to generally care about him and take his wishes into account. And he liked Cameron too. What he'd seen of his older brother was cool. The fifteen-year-old had even played with Emily and Daniel just to spend time with him. It was Elizabeth that he had a problem with. He felt really uncomfortable around her. She was always hovering around him like he was some little kid and he got the distinct impression that she was trying to turn him into the little four-year-old that she lost. He also didn't like the way she treated Sam. She was always talking down to her and acting like she wasn't important. It drove him nuts because Sam was important to him. Sam had helped him learn the truth. She'd reunited him with his family. You'd think his mother would be grateful for that.

For these reasons, Jake had insisted that their meeting take place at his current residence. Originally he was supposed to go to Elizabeth's house, but he immediately refused. If he couldn't have Sam there with him, he was going to have Robin and Patrick there. They were cool for foster parents and he felt comfortable around them. Not as comfortable as with Sam, but comfortable enough.

Soon they all heard a doorbell. Patrick immediately got up to answer it. Unsurprisingly, he found Elizabeth, Lucky, and their two boys. "Hey, guys. Come on in."

Robin stood up from her place on the couch and motioned for Jake to do the same.

Jake sighed and reluctantly followed Robin over to the group of people.

"Hey, sweetie," Elizabeth said before hugging her son.

Jake cringed, but didn't pull away. He didn't hug back either though. He wasn't ready for that kind of physical contact with any of them yet. Jason and Lucky seemed to get that, but obviously his mother hadn't.

Elizabeth finally let go. "It's good to see you again, honey. I've missed you."

Lucky stepped forward with one arm around a blond little boy who looked to be about nine. "Hey, Jake. This is Aiden. Aiden, say hi to Jake."

"Hi," Aiden said shyly.

"Hi," Jake said with a smile.

"Hey, Bro, good to see you again," Cameron said as he held out his hand.

Jake gladly shook his hand. "Yeah, you too."

"Would you all like to come sit down?" Robin asked politely.

"Sure. Thanks, Robin," Lucky said before they all followed her and Patrick into the living room.

Elizabeth and the boys sat on the couch while Lucky leaned against one of the arms of the couch. Jake sat on the loveseat with Robin while Patrick stood next to them. Mrs. Haden stayed in her spot in an arm chair next to both couches.

"Jake, why don't you come sit with us? We can make room," Elizabeth said.

"No thanks. I'm fine," Jake told her.

Lucky cleared his throat. "So how are things going? How's school?"

"School's boring," Aiden grumbled.

Jake smiled in agreement with his younger brother. "Yeah, school totally sucks. All you do is sit there while a bunch of teachers teach you things you're never going to use anyway."

"Oh, man, I know what you're saying. I'm taking geometry right now. Tell me, when are we ever going to use that in real life. I mean, unless we decide to become math teachers, and I don't know about anyone else, but that is not one of my goals in life," Cameron said.

"Okay, I think I may have just opened a can of worms. What about friends? Do you have any friends?" Lucky asked.

"Just Emma. No one else likes me. I'm a foster kid. No one likes foster kids," Jake said.

"Oh, I'm sure that's not true, honey," Elizabeth said.

Jake glared at her. "Have you ever been in foster care? Because I've spent eight joyous years there. I can tell you that is exactly how it is."

"Was it really bad?" Cameron asked curiously. He wanted to know what life was like for his brother in the foster care system.

"Cam," Lucky warned.

"No, It's okay," Jake told Lucky before addressing his older brother. "Well, it's no walk in the park. I mean, no one beat me or starved me, but most didn't give a crap about me either. I was mostly just something that got them a check. And when I became too much for them to handle, which I always did, they'd sent me back like a worn out car."

Lucky cringed when hearing what his son had been through. It broke his heart to hear. Jake was never supposed to go through that. He was supposed to be loved and cherished. He had promised Jason that he would make sure that he was, but because of some hospital error, he was forced to break that promise. "Is that why you went to Sam?"

"Not really. I didn't really expect it to happen like this. I figured if my folks were alive, they didn't want anything to do with me. I guess I just wanted to know who I was and where I came from. No one could answer that for me before," Jake explained.

"Well, that's all over now. Soon you'll be home with me and your brothers where you belong," Elizabeth said.

Elizabeth," Lucky admonished.

"Is that what's going to happen?" Jake asked upset. That was not what he wanted. He didn't want to live with Elizabeth. He didn't like her much and he didn't trust her. He wanted to live with Sam and Jason. At least there he would have someone he was comfortable with.

"That hasn't been decided yet. A judge will make that decision," Mrs. Haden said.

"I don't get a say in it?" Jake asked.

"Well, the judge will take your wishes into account, but in the end, he'll do what he thinks is best for you," Mrs. Haden said.

"Which will of course be to come home with me and your brothers," Elizabeth said.

"Like hell!" Jake yelled angrily before standing up and bolting out of the house.

All the adults stood up as if to go after him.

"Wait, let me," Cameron said before getting up and going after his brother. He found Jake outside walking away from the house. He immediately went to catch up to him. "Jake, wait."

Jake stopped when he reached the driveway and turned to his brother. "I'm sorry, Cameron, but I'm not going to live with her. I don't like her!"

Cameron found himself between a rock and a hard place. He loved his mother dearly and the good son in him felt compelled to defend her, but he could also see Jake's side. His mom was pushing too hard. She was expecting Jake to the same loving little kid that was taken from them and he just wasn't. He couldn't be. He'd seen too much of the real world for that. She needed to get that or she was going to lose Jake all over again. "Look, I know she comes on too strong sometimes, but she does mean well."

"I don't feel comfortable around her. I won't live with her. I won't!" Jake yelled.

"Okay, man, come down. Look, I just want to help you. What can I do?" Cameron asked. He had to forget about his mother right now and focus on Jake. His mother could take care of herself. Jake was the one that needed him.

"I want to talk to Sam," Jake said. Talking to her and even Jason made things better. They didn't treat him like a child and they didn't humor him. They would listen to him without throwing their own stupid opinions in the mix.

Cameron looked towards the house. It seemed no one was going to be coming after them anytime soon, probably thanks to his father. It was probably a decision they would all regret soon though. "Alright, I'll take you. My dad keeps a spare key in the glove compartment."

"You can drive?" Jake asked surprised. Cameron was fifteen and he knew for a fact that you had to be sixteen to have a license.

"Well, sort of. I've got a permit, but I'm not allowed to drive alone. But screw it. I'll just have to be careful. Hey, it's not like it's the first time I've done it anyway," Cameron said. He'd taken his mom's car a few times when she wasn't paying attention, mostly when she was going at it with AJ.

"Are you sure?" Jake asked. He wanted to go see Sam and Jason, but he didn't want to get Cameron in trouble.

"Yeah, come on," Cameron said before leading the way to his father's car.


	21. Chapter 21

Jason was in the kitchen making lunch for his children. Sam had gone out to visit her mother for a little bit.

"Daddy, when's Jakey coming back?" Daniel asked.

"Soon. Today he's visiting with him mom, his brothers and his other father," Jason told his son. Honestly, he was more than a little apprehensive about it. He wasn't worried about Lucky of the boys, but Elizabeth had a tendency to push things too far, especially lately with Jake. He was just afraid Jake would respond badly if pushed too far.

"How come Jakey has two daddies?" Emily asked.

"Well, because when Jake was a baby, he lived with his mommy and her husband. You know, Cameron and Aiden's daddy?" Jason asked. His kids knew Cameron and Aiden through AJ, so he knew they'd understand who has talking about.

Both kids nodded.

"Well, Jake spent a lot of time with him and not a lot with me, so he saw Cameron and Aiden's daddy as his too," Jason explained.

"How come you didn't spend time with him?" Daniel asked.

"Because we all thought it would be better if I didn't. But we were wrong. That's why this time, Jake is going to spend a lot of his time with us too," Jason said. He made it a point to be as honest as he could with his children. He never blew them off. He kept things out sometimes to protect them, but always tried to answer their questions in a way they could understand.

Just then they all heard the door open, followed by a familiar yell. "Jason!"

Daniel and Emily lit up at the voice and immediately ran out of the kitchen while yelling, "Aunt Carly, Aunt Carly!

Jason sighed and then followed his children through the living room to the front door. Carly was of course there waiting for them.

"Aunt Carly!" the kids yelled again before running over to them.

Carly bent down just in time to catch both kids in her arms. "Hey, guys."

The kids pulled away after a minute. "We missed you, Aunt Carly.

"Yeah, you were gone a really long time," Daniel said.

Jason laughed a little. Carly had only been gone a few weeks, but to his kids, he supposed that was a long time. They were used to seeing her at least once a week, most of the time more than that.

"Oh, I missed you guys too. Did you do anything exciting while I was gone?" Carly asked.

"We got to sleep at Grandma's and we played with Mikey and Uncle AJ!" Daniel said happily.

Carly forced a smile on her face. She never would understand why Jason and Sam let their kids around that man. Unfortunately, she couldn't stop Michael from seeing AJ, as he was an adult, but Jason could stop his kids from seeing him, yet he chose not to.

"Ooh, guess what else," Daniel said excitedly.

"What?" Carly asked.

"We have a brother!" he squealed.

Carly's mouth dropped open in shock. "Wha…?

"Um, hey, guys, why don't you go upstairs and wash your hands for lunch?" Jason asked his kids.

"But we want to stay with Aunt Carly," Emily protested.

"Don't worry, sweetie. I'll be here when you get back," Carly promised.

"Okay," Emily said before reluctantly taking her brother by the hand and going upstairs.

Carly stood up and looked at Jason with a shocked expression. "Brother? Is Sam pregnant again?"

"Uh, no, it's a bit more complicated than that. Let's just say that a lot has happened since you've been gone," Jason said.

"Like what?" Carly asked.

Jason was about to answer when his phone began to ring. He picked it up and saw that it was Lucky. He immediately answered it. "Yeah, Lucky, what's up?"

"_Jason, thank God. Are Cameron and Jake there with you?_" Lucky asked in an urgent voice.

"What? No, I thought they were with you. Aren't you at Patrick and Robin's?" Jason asked.

"_Yeah, but there was a situation. Jake got upset and ran out. Cam followed him and the next thing I know, my car is gone_," Lucky said.

Jason's eyes widened in fear. Cameron was only fifteen. He didn't have a license. "Cameron took your car? Does he even know how to drive?"

"_Well, he's in Driver's ED and he has his permit, but he's still learning. We've only been out on the road a few times," _Lucky said.

Jason's fear continued to grow. The last time he heard about Jake and a car, he was told the boy was dead not long later. He knew it wasn't the same, but it wasn't that much different either. It could end in tragedy. "Okay, call AJ. He and Cam are close. Maybe he'll go there."

"_Elizabeth is on it, but I don't think he's going to AJ. Jake was the one upset, not Cam. I think they're heading for you and Sam," _Lucky said.

Meanwhile, the door to the penthouse had just opened and Sam walked in. As soon as she arrived, she saw Carly there looking concerned and Jason on the phone with scared look on his face. "What's going on?"

"I'm not sure. He's talking to Lucky. It sounds like something happened with Lucky's son Cameron, though I'm not sure why that's scaring him so much," Carly said.

"Okay, Lucky, I'm gonna go out on the bike and look for them. I'll call you if I find anything," Jason said before hanging up.

"What's wrong?" Sam asked in concern.

"There was some kind of issue with the visit today. Jake got upset and he and Cam took Lucky's car," Jason explained quickly.

"Whoa, hold on. Jake?" Carly asked. She only knew of one person named Jake that would raise this kind of concern in Jason and he'd died eight years earlier.

Sam's eyes widened. "What? Cameron can't even drive!"

"I know. God, Sam, if there's another accident…" He trailed off unable to finish.

Sam shuddered. She didn't want to think about such a thing either. It would rip her apart inside too. She cared about Jake now too. It wasn't like before. Years ago, her worry was for Jason and what losing Jake would do to him. Now, she cared about Jake in a way that didn't involve Jason. She didn't want to think about anything happening to him. "Okay, we have to find them."

"Yeah, I'm going out on the bike to look," Jason said before grabbing his keys and his jacket.

"I'm coming with you. Carly, stay here with the kids," Sam said before following her husband towards the door.

"Wait, hold on a second," Carly said to no avail.

Jason got the door open and stopped. Cameron and Jake were right outside the door.

Sam breathed a sigh of relief as soon as she saw them. "Oh, thank God. Are you guys okay?"

Jason couldn't describe what he was feeling. He had been so scared when he learned what Cameron and Jake did. Seeing that he was okay made him want to take Jake into his arms and never let go. But he forced himself not to do that. He doubted his son was ready for something like that.

"Yeah, we're fine," Cameron said as he and Jake walked inside.

"Have the two of you lost your minds? Lucky just called and said the two of you stole his car," Sam said as she closed the door behind them.

"We didn't steal it. We just borrowed it for a little while," Cameron said with a sheepish grin.

Sam was not amused by the older boy's attempt at humor. "When you take something without permission, it's called stealing. Not to mention that you were driving without a license."

Carly, meanwhile, was looking at the two boy's. Well, actually she was only looking at the blond. He bared an uncanny resemblance to Jason. She would swear he was his son, but that was impossible. Jason had had two sons in his life. One was upstairs and barely three-years-old and the other had been dead for years.

"Look, it's not a big deal, okay? I've taken the car before," Cameron said.

Sam raised an eyebrow. "Really? I'm sure your parents will love hearing that."

"I'll call Lucky," Jason said. He walked further into the living room to call Lucky.

"So would either of you like to tell me what was so important that you had to break the law to come here?" Sam asked.

"I'm not going to live with her! I hate her!" Jake yelled angrily.

Sam looked at Cameron for an explanation.

Cameron sighed. "My mom might have come on a bit too strongly."

Sam groaned. Of course. Why was she not surprised that this had started with Elizabeth? Not that that made what the boys did okay. "What happened?"

"It started off okay, I guess. I was telling everyone about what my life was like in Foster Care. One thing led to another and then _she_ kept saying I had to live with her. I don't to live her. Cameron's cool and I'm sure I'll like Aiden too, but I don't like her. She talks to me like I'm some little kid and she acts like she's the only one that should matter. I don't want to even talk to her," Jake ranted.

Cameron sighed and looked away. This was very difficult for him to hear. He understood how Jake felt, but hearing such negative things about his mother was hard. She was hard to take sometimes, but she was still his mother and he loved her.

Sam sighed. "Jake…"

Jason came back over that that moment. "I told Lucky the boys were okay and that we'd bring them back to Robin and Patrick's," Jason said.

At that point, Carly finally decided to speak up. "Excuse me? Hi, can someone tell me what's going on." She was majorly confused. Why were Elizabeth's son and some other kid coming to Jason and Sam? And who was this other kid. He looked exactly like Jason and had the name of Jason's dead son. But he couldn't really be Jake. Jake was dead. His kidney was in her daughter's body for crying out loud.

Jake turned to the woman. "Who's she?"

Jason took Jake by the shoulders.. "Jake, this is my friend, Carly. Carly, this is my son, Jake."

Carly's mouth dropped open in shock. She didn't understand how that was possible. Jake had died either years ago, yet, she was being told he was standing right in front of her. "How…? How…?"

"Later. We need to get the boys back to Robin and Patrick's. Weil you stay with the kids please?" Sam asked.

Carly nodded numbly.

"No, I don't want to go. I don't want to see _her_," Jake protested.

"Too bad. We're going back and the two of you will explain yourselves. Now Jason is going to drive you guys back and I'm going to drive Lucky's car back. Keys, Cameron," Sam said sternly as she held out her hand.

Cameron dug his father's keys out of his pocket and deposited them into Sam's hand.

"Alright, let's go," Sam said as she gently pushed them both towards the door.

Jason put his jacket on and followed them out.


	22. Chapter 22

Everyone was waiting anxiously at Robin and Patrick's for Sam and Jason to get back with the boys. They all knew they were okay, but no one would relax until they actually saw the boys.

Soon they heard a knock at the door.

"That's gotta be them," Robin said before going to the door and opening it. It wasn't Jason and Sam though. It was AJ. "AJ, hi. Come one in."

"Hey. Did you find them?" AJ asked worriedly as he entered the house. He had been very worried when Elizabeth had told him that Cam and Jake had taken Lucky's car. He loved Cameron like a son and Jake was his nephew. And he knew from personal experience the damage a car could cause.

"Yeah, they went to Jason and Sam's. They should all be here any minute now," Lucky said.

AJ breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank God. Why did they go to Jason and Sam's in the first place?"

"It was just a misunderstanding," Elizabeth said.

"I'm sorry, but who are you?" Mrs. Haden asked AJ.

"Oh, this is AJ Quartermaine. He's Jake's uncle and he's also Elizabeth's boyfriend," Lucky said.

"Hi," AJ said politely.

Just then, there was another knock at the door.

"Okay, this is them," Robin said confidently before going to answer the door once more. This time it was Jason, Sam, and the boys.

"…stealing your father's car. Unbelievable!" Sam was lecturing as they walked inside of the house.

Lucky immediately walked over and glared at Cameron. "My car?! Are you kidding me?!"

"Dad, it's not that big a deal. And if you don't mind, Sam and Jason have been lecturing us since we got to their house," Cameron said. Once they got in the car, Jason had started as well. He wasn't quite as vocal as Sam, but he certainly showed his displeasure.

"Good! You stole a car! You drove without a license and you could've killed yourself and your brother!" Lucky lectured.

"We were fine," Cameron insisted.

"That was luck. You got lucky, Cameron. I'm sorry, I know this is a parent matter and I'm not a parent to anyone in this room, but this is my realm of expertise," AJ said.

"Please," Lucky said. He wasn't AJ's biggest fan, but he did feel that the man could offer a lot to this conversation.

AJ looked at Cameron. "Yeah, you made it out okay this time, but what about next time. A car can be a dangerous thing. It gets even more dangerous if you don't know how to use it properly or are not in the frame of mind to do so. Do you know how many times I've driven drunk? Hundreds of times. Like with you, nothing ever happened. Except for the one time that it did."

"I wasn't drunk," Cameron argued.

"No, but you were inexperienced and unqualified, which can be just as dangerous. Do you know that I didn't even make it out of the driveway? I was still on my own property when I crashed my car and nearly killed my brother. In fact, in some ways, I did kill him. Is that what you want? Do you want to be responsible for ruining someone's life? Do you wanna be like me? Like Luke?"

"Who's Luke? And who are you?" Jake asked.

"Jake, this is your uncle. He's my brother," Jason told his son.

"Wait, so he's talking about you?" Jake asked surprised.

"Yes. I used to be someone else. I had a different life and a different personality. When the car accident happened, I got brain damage. I lost my memories and my personality changed drastically. I nearly died," Jason explained.

"That's what can happen when you drive a car unprepared or you get into the car with someone who is. And you never know if you'll get lucky or if it'll turn out like it did for Jason and me. Like I said, I drove drunk hundreds of times. It only went bad once, but it went very, very bad," AJ said seriously.

"I…I didn't think about what could happen. I just wanted to help Jake. I didn't think that I might hurt him," Cameron said remorsefully. Hearing AJ's story was affecting him. He'd heard about the legendary accident before from others, but AJ had never talked to him about it like he was right now. It was kind of freaky, especially since now that he thought about it, a reckless driver was what took Jake from them in the first place.

"There were better ways to help him, Cameron. If he really wanted to see us that badly, you could've asked an adult to drive you or you could've called us," Sam said.

"Exactly. I would've driven you if you had said something to me," Lucky said.

"I'm sorry," Cameron said.

"You will be. You're grounded for the next month and you need to apologize to your brother for putting him in danger," Elizabeth said.

"Hang on, Elizabeth, he's not the only one responsible here. Jake knew Cameron didn't have a license and he got in the car anyway," Jason said.

"It's not his fault. He didn't know any better," Elizabeth said while smiling at her younger son. She was hoping taking his side would get him to warm up to her a little bit.

"The hell he didn't. He's twelve, not two. He knew what he was doing," Sam said.

"Stay out of this! This is none of your business!" Elizabeth said.

Robin decided to intervene before the situation got ugly. "Hey, why don't you boys head upstairs? Emma and Aiden are up there."

Cameron nodded and headed for the stairs.

Jake glared at Elizabeth before following his brother.

"Elizabeth, you have got to stop this," Lucky said.

"What? She's the one that got involved with something that isn't her concern. She has no right lecturing Jake," Elizabeth said.

"Well, if she has no right than neither do I. After all, I'm not really Jake's parent either. So is that what you're saying?" Lucky asked.

"That's different. You have always been Jake's father," Elizabeth said.

"You're right, it is different. Jake actually knows Sam. He listens to her," Lucky said. He got a front row seat of that the first time he met Jake at the police station. Jake had listened to every word Sam said and responded to it. "So if she says something that gets through to him, I say let her say it. It's much better than coddling him. He doesn't need that."

"Well, he doesn't need to be treated like a villain either," Elizabeth argued.

"I did not treat him like a villain. I treated him like a kid who made a mistake. He's not four anymore, Elizabeth. He knew what he was doing was wrong and he did it anyway. He deserves to be taken to task for that," Sam said.

"I agree," Patrick said. "And before you try to say it's none of my business, Jake is still in our custody. He'll be treated like Emma is. If she had gotten in the car with someone who was not licensed, she would find herself grounded indefinitely. However, because you've given Cameron a month, we'll give him the same. That good with you, honey."

Robin nodded. She wholeheartedly agreed with her husband.

"I agree with the others, Ms. Webber," Mrs. Haden said. "Jacob needs to know that what he did was wrong. It is no better to get in the car with someone unlicensed than it is to drive one unlicensed.

"He's my son. I should have a say in this," Elizabeth objected.

"Your say is based your desire to have him like you. You're not his friend, Elizabeth, you're his mother!" Lucky exclaimed.

"And as I already said, Jake is in our custody. If and when he's in yours, you can decide. Until then, our decision stands," Patrick said firmly, affectively ending the debate.

Elizabeth decided not to argue anymore. If Jake got angry, she could just blame Patrick. Actually, this might work. Everyone else wanted to punish Jake except for her. That might just work in her favor to get him to her side.

"Okay, I think that this should be the end of the conversation for now. What happened today before the car incident needs to be discussed, but I'll let it be between you all and the court appointed psychiatrist. You are all still seeing him, correct?" Mrs. Haden asked.

Sam nodded. "Yeah, we all have an appointed next week."

"Good."

"I'll go get the boys and we'll head out," Lucky said before walking towards the stairs.

"I'm gonna head out too. See you later, Jase," AJ said.

"Thanks for your help," Jason said. It had been awkward hearing AJ talk about how he ruined his life, especially since Jason didn't see it that way, but it was certainly something Jake and Cameron needed to hear.

AJ nodded and headed out the door.


	23. Chapter 23

Elizabeth led her sons into their house. AJ was also with them. "Okay, boys, go on upstairs and do your homework. I'm sure you still have some left.

Cameron looked between his mother and AJ. They were going to fight. He knew they were going to fight. It was times like this where he would 'borrow' the car, but after today, he wouldn't be doing that anymore. "fine, come on, Aiden."

Elizabeth waited until she heard the boys' bedroom doors close before whirling around on AJ. "You know, it would've been nice to have your support today."

"And what kind of support did you want from me, Elizabeth? Blind loyalty. You wanted me to say you were right when you weren't?" AJ asked.

"We are together! We should show a united front!" Elizabeth yelled.

"Okay, first of all, I never said one word about Jake being punished. It was none of my business and I recognized that. Second, you wanna talk about posing a united front? You mean like you did today? You contradicted every other parent in that room in front the boys. Speaking of, do you even realize what you did to your son today?" AJ asked.

"I haven't done anything to Jake," Elizabeth said.

"I wasn't talking about Jake, but you've just proven my point. You are so obsessed with getting Jake to like you that you are pushing your other kids aside," AJ said.

"That's not true," Elizabeth denied.

'Yeah, it is. You punished your son for something he and his brother did and you were willing to let your other son off the hook completely," AJ said.

"Jake didn't know what he was doing," Elizabeth insisted.

"Oh the hell he didn't! He's twelve-years-old. He knew exactly what he was doing! You saying he didn't and trying to excuse him didn't help him any, nor did it help your relationship with him. All it might have done is possibly damage your older son. Cameron was right there! He had to listen to you make him the villain while letting his brother off the hook! Do you have any idea what that does to someone? Because I do!" AJ yelled. He knew exactly what it was like to be cast aside in favor of your brother. And because he did, he spent a lot of time hating his brother. He didn't want to see that happen to Cameron.

"Oh, don't push your issues on Cameron. He knows I love him," Elizabeth said.

"Yeah, he knows you love him, but does he know you love him more than you love his brother. Before today, maybe," AJ said.

"I love all my kids equally. It's just that Jake is the one that needs me right now. Once Jake is home with us, everything will go back to normal," Elizabeth said.

"And exactly what is that to you? How things were eight years ago? Because if you're expecting that, you're living in a dream world. Jake is not four anymore, Cameron is not seven, and Aiden is not a baby. You can't have things the way they used to be," AJ said frankly.

"Why are you doing this? I thought you said you were going to stay out of it," Elizabeth said.

"Yeah, well, I can't anymore, and not just because I'm Jason's brother or your boyfriend. I can't stay out of it because I can't just sit back while you psychologically harm your own kids," AJ said.

"Oh, you're being overdramatic," Elizabeth waved off his concern.

"How would you know? You have no idea what it means to have your parents favor your brother over you. At first you try to deny that it's happening, then you blame yourself, and then you blame your brother. You start to resent and hate him for being better than you. I'm not going to watch that happen to Cameron and Jake. I can't stop it from happening, but I will not watch it," AJ said firmly. This was it for him. He'd finally reached his point of no return. After watching Elizabeth push Cameron aside earlier and listening her try to defend it now, he couldn't do it anymore. He couldn't watch Elizabeth turn Cameron and Jake into him and Jason. He was done.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Elizabeth asked.

AJ shook his head sadly. "I've hung on more than I should've. I've heard that it was a mistake to stay from everyone. My mother, my son, even Jason, and you know what, they were all right. I knew it each and every time they said it. I don't love you and you don't love me. Still I was willing to hang on for Cam and Aiden. But I can't do it anymore. I can't sit by while you ruin your children's lives. I'm finished."

"You don't mean that. You walk away all the time, but you always come back," Elizabeth said. She had no doubt that AJ would be back. History proved that.

AJ shook his head. "Not this time. It's over."

"You'll be back," Elizabeth said before turning and walking towards the kitchen.

AJ was about to leave when he noticed a figure on the stairs. He walked closer and saw that it was Cameron. He immediately walked up and sat down next to him. "So how much did you hear."

"All of it. You're really not coming back this time, are you?" Cameron asked. He'd heard the tone in AJ's voice when he said it. What his mother said was true, AJ always came back to them. But this time was different. AJ had finally had enough.

"No. I'm sorry, Cameron. I'll always be here for you and Aiden if you need me, but I can't stay," AJ said. He hoped Cameron would understand. He didn't want to leave the boys, but his staying wasn't helping them any.

Cameron was quiet for a minute. Then he said something he knew would change things in his family forever. "Neither can I. You were right. What my mom did today hurt a lot. I mean, I didn't want Jake to get in trouble and I probably would've tried to keep him out of it if I'd gotten the chance, but the fact that Mom was willing to punish me and not him hurt a lot."

"I'm sorry, Cameron," AJ said.

"I've always known she loved Jake more than me. I think she even loves Aiden more than me, Cameron said sadly. He knew his mother loved him, but it just never seemed to be as much as Jake and Aiden. He was pretty sure he even knew why. Jake and Cameron were conceived by men his mother loved. He was the result of a one night stand with her best friend's ex. The funny part was that his dad seemed to be able to love all of them the same

"I didn't know you felt that way," AJ said. He felt like he should've known. He knew what it was like to feel like he was less than. He should've seen it in Cameron.

"I tried to deny it. I didn't want it to be true. But it is. And like you, I can't do this anymore. I love my brothers very much. I don't want to end up hating them. I think I'm going to call my dad and ask if I can live with him," Cameron said. He'd actually thought about doing that a few times, but he always talking himself out of it. Despite everything, he loved his mother very much and he didn't want to leave Aiden either. But after hearing the things AJ said to his mother, he just couldn't stay anymore. I didn't want to come to hate Jake or Aiden.

"I think that might be a good idea," AJ said. He hated to even think it, but he was starting to believe that Cameron would be better off with Lucky, just as he was starting to believe that Jake should go live with Jason and Sam.

"I know I'm leaving Aiden alone and possibly Jake if he comes to live here, but…"

"I don't think Jake will be coming to live here. I'm almost positive he'll be living with his father too. As for Aiden, he'll be alright and you'll still see him a lot. You deserve to be happy, Cameron. Go live with your dad," AJ urged.

"I can still come see you when I want, right?" Cameron asked. He loved hanging with AJ. The man wasn't his father, but he was someone he could talk to when he felt he couldn't talk to his parents, kind of like right now. He didn't want to lose that.

"Yeah, of course. Like I said, I'll always be around for you guys. Just pick up a phone or even drop by. You're always welcome," AJ told him.

"Thanks," Cameron said smiling.

"Well, I guess I better go. I'll see you around, pal," AJ said before giving the boy's shoulder a squeeze and standing up. He walked down the stairs and out the door and Elizabeth's life for the final time.


	24. Chapter 24

Jason and Sam made it back to the penthouse a couple hours later. They'd decided to go for a drive after leaving Patrick and Robin's to cool off. They'd both been really angry after dealing with Elizabeth and they didn't want to bring that home to their kids.

They walked into the house to find Carly sitting on the couch.

Carly immediately got up and went over to the couple. "Well, it's about time. Would do her of you like to tell me what's going on?" She was still confused from what happened earlier. She knew that boy, Jake was Jason and Elizabeth's son, but she had no idea how.

"Where are the kids?" Sam asked as she took off her coat.

"Upstairs napping. Now would you tell me how Jason's dead son somehow isn't dead?"

"It's a long story, Carly," Jason said as he took his own coat off and draped it once his desk chair.

"It involves a kid coming back from the dead. I think I need to hear this story. Look, his death saved Josslyn's life. I just don't understand this," Carly said.

"Jake wasn't the one to save Josslyn. There was a mix up. Another little boy was hurt that night and he was the one that died, not Jake," Jason said.

Carly stared at Her best friend in disbelief. "Are you kidding me? They told you your son was dead when he wasn't?"

"They didn't know, Carly," Jason said.

"How could they not know? First of all, how do you not know who you're treating ? And second, how did anyone at that hospital not recognize Jake? His mother had worked there since before he was born. He was there all the time," Carly said. This was just crazy. The idea of a hospital displacing a child was crazy. If it was her child, heads would be rolling right now. No way would she spend eight years grieving for a child that wasn't dead and not kill someone later.

"Jake was badly injuries from the accident. He wasn't distinguishable from he other boy," Sam said.

"Look,it doesn't matter now. All that matters is that Jake is alive," Jason said.

Carly sighed. "Right. I gathered from what you said that he's staying with Robin and Patrick. When is he coming home? And who is he going home with?"

"We haven't gotten that far yet. It has only been a couple weeks," Jason said. Okay, so it had been discussed, but he didn't want tell Carly about it. She would just but in with her own advice.

"But Jake obviously knows you're his father. That means you intend to be in his life, right?" Carly asked.

"I'm not leave Jake again. No matter what, I'm gonna be in his life," Jason said firmly.

"Good. You deserve your son, Jase, and Jake deserves to have you as his father," Carly said.

Soon, there was a knock at th door. Jason turned and answered it. He found AJ there. "Hey."

"Hi. Can I come in?" AJ asked.

Jason immediately moved aside to let his brother in. He then closed the door behind him.

"What are you doing here, AJ? Here to whine about how unfair your life is again?" Carly taunted.

"I don't have time for you, Carly. I'm here to warn Jason and Sam," AJ said.

"Warn us about what?" Sam asked warily.

AJ sighed. I left Elizabeth. I finally realized everyone was right. Our relationship was only hurting those around us. It had to stop."

"Good." Jason said.

I'm not the only one who decided to leave Elizabeth though. Cameron has decided to live with Lucky," AJ told them.

Sam sighed. "Well, I can't say I'm shocked by it. It was very clear today that she was favoring Jake."

"It's first time she's pushed him aside either. He's it and I can't blame him. He deserves better," AJ said.

"Of house he does,"Sam said. No child deserved to be treated like he was less than. Cameron deserved to live with someone that would love him just as much as his siblings.

"The thing is that with Cam gone, Elizabeth is going to be even more determined to get Jake back. Look,I tried not to get involved, but it doesn't seem like I have a choice. Elizabeth's behavior is just as much detrimental to Jake as it is to Cameron. He shouldn't live with her. Jason, I think you should all a lawyer and sue for custody," AJ said. He hated saying it. He really cared about Elizabeth. But Jake needed to be with people do what was best for him. Elizabeth just wasn't capable of that right now.

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but listen to AJ. Look, I don't know happened, but your son belongs with you, Jason," Carly encouraged.

"Okay, you guys need to leave. Sam and I need to be alone to discuss this," Jason said.

"Of course, let me know if you need anything," AJ said before heading for the door.

"Call a lawyer,Jason," Carly said again before following AJ out.

Sam waited for them both to leave before turning to her husband. "Jason, I think they're right. I don't Think we have a choice anymore."

Jason sighed. " I didn't want it to come to this. Jake's been through so much. I didn't want there to have to be a fight."

"I know, neither did I. You, me, and Lucky have bent over backwards to try Elizabeth to see that we can all coexist in Jake's life, but she refuses to accept that. And now she's hurting not just Jake, but her other kids as well. We have to do something."

Jason knew Sam was right. He'd wanted for the four of them to work together to do what was best for Jake, but that seemed impossible now. "Okay. I'll call Diane."


	25. Chapter 25

Sam walked into the penthouse the next day. She'd just gotten back from dropping her children off at her mother's. Diane would be arriving soon to discuss the custody thing with Jake and Sam and Jason both thought it would be better if the kids not be present.

Jason was coming downstairs just as Sam arrived home.

"Hey. The kids are squared away at my mom's. When will Diane be here?" Sam asked.

"Soon. I called Lucky too. I wanna tell him in person. He deserves that much," Jason said. He wouldn't take Elizabeth's actions out on Lucky. He had been nothing but accommodating and understanding throughout this whole thing. He had respected Jason's place in Jake's life, so it was only fair that Jason respected his.

"Yeah, you're right. He deserves to hear it from us and hear our reasons why," Sam said.

As if on cue, there was a knock at the door. Sam turned around answered it. Lucky was on the other side and he looked exhausted. "Hey, Lucky, are you okay?"

"It's been a rough night," Lucky said as he walked inside. "I was on the phone half the night fighting with Elizabeth."

"Cameron?" Sam asked as she shut the door.

"Yeah, how'd you know?" Lucky asked surprised.

"AJ came by last night. Cam talked to him before calling you," Jason said.

Lucky sighed. "Right. Well, I spent about an hour talking to him and then Elizabeth and I had a two to three hour screaming match."

"Lucky, why don't you have a seat," Sam said as she pointed towards the living room.

Lucky nodded and sat down in the armchair.

Sam and Jason both sat on the couch. "So is Cameron going to live with you?" Sam asked.

"Well, Elizabeth is adamant that he won't. That's all she said throughout the entire conversation. If you can even call it a conversation. But towards the end, I got fed up. I told her I was coming to get the boys for the weekend today and if Cameron wanted to stay, it was up to him. And I meant it. Cam doesn't want to live with Elizabeth anymore and with yesterday's fiasco, I don't blame him. So if he wants to live with me then that's what's going to happen," Lucky said.

"Yesterday's what we wanted to talk to you about. It's clear that Elizabeth is not gonna work with us," Jason said.

Lucky groaned. "Oh, I know where this conversation is going."

"We've done the best we can, Lucky. We all have. But Elizabeth won't work with us. And now with everything going on with Cameron, it's only gonna get worse," Jason continued.

"Elizabeth has got this fantasy in her head. She's got this mental picture of that little four-year-old by that we all lost and she can't let it go! She can't accept that he's gone!" Lucky exclaimed in frustration. He was really getting irritated with Elizabeth. He didn't understand why she couldn't accept that while the little boy they'd loved so much was gone, there was an amazing young boy in his place that she could have a wonderful relationship with if she'd just accept him for who he was.

"But he is. That's just a fact," Jason said.

"I know. I've been hoping that she'll come to her senses and see Jake for who he is now, but I'm beginning to think it's never gonna happen," Lucky said.

"Yeah, we're thinking the same thing. That's why I called Diane. We're petitioning the court for custody of Jake. I'm sorry, Lucky, but we just don't see any other option at this point," Jason said.

Lucky sighed. "It's not like I didn't see it coming. I hoped it wouldn't happen, but it was always in the back of my mind. Jake has made no secret of his desire to live with you and Elizabeth has made it clear that she will do everything she can to get in the way of that. That's why Jake ran out yesterday. So I'm not surprised, and I understand why you have to go this route."

"You'll always be a father to Jake, Lucky. No matter where he lives, that'll never change," Jason promised. He'd said it before, but he just wanted to reiterate it now that they were going for custody.

"Thank you. I really appreciate that. I'm going to hold you to that. I don't intend to ever leave Jake's life. I will let you do the fighting with my support though. You have the legal rights to do it, not me. Besides, I have a war of my own to fight. Elizabeth's not just going to let Cameron go, and if things continue on like this, I may just have to do something about Aiden," Lucky said. He really didn't want it to come to that, but this situation was straining everyone involved. Elizabeth was already neglecting Cameron in favor of Jake. How long would it be before Aiden became a casualty as well? He couldn't let that happen.

Just then there was another knock at the door.

"That's Diane. I'll get it," Jason said before standing up. He went over to the door and opened it. Sure enough, he found Diane on the other side. "Hey. Come on in."

"Thank you. I heard about the thing with Jake about a week ago. I was waiting to see if…" Diane trailed off when she saw Lucky. "Uh, is this a good idea."

"It's okay, he's on our side," Jason said.

"I was just leaving anyway," Lucky said before standing up. "I'll see you guys next week at the family counseling session. Call me if anything comes up before then."

"We will. Thanks, Lucky," Jason said appreciatively.

Lucky nodded and headed out the door.

Diane quickly took Lucky's vacated seat. "Alright, so would you two like to explain what's going on?"

Jason sat back down and he and Sam quickly told Diane everything that happened.

"Well, it seems you all have had a rough few weeks," Diane said.

Sam chuckled slightly. "Yeah, you could definitely say that.

Diane sighed. "A custody battle is the last thing you want right now. A judge is not going to want to drag him through a custody battle just weeks after he's reintroduced to his parents, and he's not going to want to hear about your issues with each other."

"Diane, we don't want this either. We've bent over backwards to try to meet Elizabeth halfway. We've done everything we can to avoid this, but she's not giving us much choice. Tim and time again, she has tried to interfere with Jason's relationship with his son. Jake realizes it and he resents it. He resents her," Sam said.

"She's putting her issues on him, Diane. She keeps trying to make him something he's not. I can't let that happen. I know what it's like," Jason said.

"I understand. I just need you both to realize now that this going to be extremely difficult. The judge is not going to want to deal with his. The first thing he'll likely do it order mediation and counseling to try to come up with a workable solution before setting any kind of custody hearing. And he's not gonna award anybody any type of custody until that's done," Diane told them.

"So what you're saying is that Jake is gonna have to stay in foster care until it's all over," Jason summed up.

"Yes, and it will take months," Diane warned.

Jason sighed. He didn't like it. Robin and Patrick were good people and he trusted them, but Jake couldn't really start his life until this whole thing was resolved. They couldn't make him wait months for that. "So what do we do? We can't just leave things the way they are."

"Well, perhaps the very idea of a custody fight will scare Elizabeth into trying to work something out. I suggest talking to her and telling her what you're considering. Just you, Jason. Perhaps if you speak one on one, you can convince Elizabeth that a compromise needs to be made," Diane said.

Jason looked to Sam. He wanted to know her take on this idea.

"It's worth a shot. How much worse can it really get? I mean, I don't think either of us wants to see Jake in foster care longer than he has to be," Same said.

Jason nodded. "Okay, I'll give it a try."

Diane stood up. "I'll draw up the paperwork in case this doesn't work. If you still want me to file them, give me a call."

Jason nodded and stood up. "Thanks, Diane."

"No problem. I'll see myself out," Diane said before heading for the door.


End file.
